Dark Jewel
by SergiusTheGreat
Summary: AU. John Arthur Shepard is a bright, ambitious military officer of the Alliance. He has shaken hands with none other than Admiral Daro'Xen for mutual assistance in the future. After his revival by Cerberus, lust, ambition, brilliance and power are some of the concepts Shepard will go through, slowly changing him on the way to save the galaxy from the Reapers. Tali/M!Shep/Daro.
1. Chapter 1

**This will be a short series, maybe between five to ten chapters. Daro has always been this laid back character that really interested me. Cold and ruthless but, maybe she has a good side, or maybe she is like that for something that happened in her life. I was the one who requested the name of Daro to be on the search list by the way :P**

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><p>The galaxy was… amazing. For a spacer like Shepard, raised by military parents, he had always been thrilled by its dark beauty. He would find himself, looking through a window of his parent's assigned ship, wondering what was behind those countless stars. He wanted to find himself, to have a purpose in such a big place, to make something different.<p>

A student with very high grades, Shepard attracted the attention of military recruiters at the tender age of seventeen. His parents, being military officers themselves, encouraged him to pursue his own dreams, and so John Arthur Shepard joined the Alliance Military straight out of high school. Not long after, he was selected to join the N7 Commandoes due to his high intelligence and great amount of skills in the battlefield. Not only that… John was an exceptional strategist and tactical genius, so the N7 was the perfect academy for someone like him.

Throughout his years in the prestigious school of the Alliance Military, he gained medal after medal. He was praised and held on high regard by some of the most renowned military officers on Earth. The poster boy, Shepard was simply the most promising soldier in the army. He then went on to repel a huge assault of slavers on Elysium, gaining yet more medals and the Star of Terra, the most prestigious prize for any soldier in the Alliance Military.

Shepard was simply…. the best example humanity had to offer. A disciplined, hard working, intelligent and skillful man, John found himself in the "tip of the iceberg." However, there was an incident, not too long before Elysium, where he made a name for himself with another species long forgotten by the species of the Citadel, a race that was looked down upon and ignored at best. And met a very interesting woman in the process…

During the pirate incident at Caleston, John Arthur Shepard became famous to the mysterious and ignored quarians. This is the story.

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><p>March 17, 2175. Celeston, Systems Alliance Colony, Molke System.<p>

For Lieutenant John Shepard, Celeston was simply the worst planet in the whole galaxy. A heat that could rival Therum, a desert that would make even scorpions from the Sahara back on Earth frightful and, the cherry on top of the cake, pirates…

"You know sir; this is probably the time where Bear Gryll would say 'let's survive.'" Private Smith said out loud, gaining the chuckle of his fellow officers.

John chuckled too. "I know, the heat is unbearable and now we have to patrol this… place to protect those miners."

"Miners? Sounds like they discovered something awesome and now everyone was a piece of it." Corporal Steiner was the soldier in the platoon known for being a conspiracy theorist and coming up with the best nonsense anyone could muster.

Smith shook his head. "Ah here we go…"

"Hey, I am your corporal! Respect me you…" Both stared at each other, but laughing then echoed throughout the small room where they were located.

John shook his head and smiled. "Whatever the reason, at least we got some AC here boys."

Private Ramirez the groaned. "Ah but come on, why send a platoon of special forces to guard this goddamn place? Seriously, the Alliance is full of _pendejos_."

"Cool it Ram." Smith countered.

John laughed and simply took a deck of cards from his pack. "And seriously, thanks to you Ramirez, I have been learning the best Spanish has to offer for the past six months."

"Yeah, now we all know bad words in German, Mexican and English." Smith said, chuckling while smoking a cigarette.

"Jesus Christ man, it's Spanish, not Mexican! Your ignorance amazes me." Steiner was also the 'smartass' of the group. One of the few who actually knew about other races, the other one being John.

After a few hours, the group was talking amiably about the different species that called most of their attention.

"I saw an asari back in basics; she was the biotic expert for the garrison. Pretty hot if you ask me." Smith was now passing the cards for like their sixteenth poker game.

"Yah, they are hot, but my girlfriend is hotter than all of them put together." Ramirez was not a racist, but he was more of a "my girlfriend, my girl blah blah blah" kind of guy.

Steiner then turned his face to see their officer, and best friend, wondering his next move on the game. "Yo sir, what do you think? Asari or Human?"

The lieutenant smiled. "As long as she makes me happy, I am good."

Laughter echoed in the room. "Awww you sound so fairy tale-ish sir, no offense." Ramirez quickly held his hands up, as if he was surrendering to the enemy.

"As long as women do it good on bed and cook for you, they are good." Smith said while picking up some cards from the deck.

"I've always been a feminist, so I must disagree with your views Damon." Shepard countered.

Steiner nodded. "Yeah, you are so ignorant. However, I won't hold it against you, since your IQ must be below kindergarten children."

In one swift motion, Smith got up and pointed his finger at the man of German ancestry. "I…I.. I beat you on poker last time!"

"And I just beat you all…" Then the man from Germany showed his cards. "Epic Full House ladies." His comment received groans from both Smith and Ramirez.

As he was going for the prize, a couple of packs of cigarettes and a credit chit that contained over one hundred creds, John shook his head and grinned. "Oh you are mistaken corporal, here." The lieutenant then showed his cards, four aces…

"Oh god…" Steiner uttered in amazement while Ramirez and Smith chuckled.

"And that is why I win." The main officer then grabbed his prize with his right hand and put it on his bag.

Within a few seconds, laughter once again reined in the room.

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><p>It was already twelve am, and John was already preparing to go to sleep. He was tired of doing nothing. They had been stationed in that small room or barracks as they called it amusingly, for the past two weeks. A waste of time as Ramirez had put it; they were simply on guard to protect the miners in close proximity. However, their role was to simply lead the security guards in case of attack. That was it, nothing more nothing less.<p>

As the officer prepared to join his pillow to have some well deserved sleep, the radio in the table where they were playing less than two hours ago, beeped. A voice was then heard.

"Is anyone picking this up? Is anyone out there?"

John quickly rose up from bed and rushed to the main room, which was basically a small space of less than ten meters square, but good enough for four marines. The other men had already gotten up and were already at the lieutenant's side, waiting for him to answer.

"That voice is… weird." Ramirez said out loud.

Steiner shrugged. "Not blink by the looks of it."

"Looks?" Smith teased.

John held his hands. "Alright cool it down people."

The radio then beeped once again. "Please help us! We are under attack by pirates."

It was highly probable that pirates could be the ones behind this. The voice, however, had a heavy accented voice, Eastern European to be exact, like that except with a little touch of unknown. Smith was already tracing the signal, while Steiner and Ramirez were busy getting their equipment.

"It's less than twenty miles from here sir." Smith said while moving up his omni tool back and forth.

John scratched his chin and thought carefully. "Could be a trap to gain a foothold here, then to take over the mine. That voice, though, is weird."

The man with black skin nodded, "Yeah sir, it's not a blink or cuttle bone voice; pretty sure it's a human from Europe or something, sounds too human."

"That is the problem, sounds too human." Shepard replied. He then got an idea. "Make sure the radio is protected from encryption, I want to talk to them."

Smith nodded and went to work. Shepard paced around the room, thinking about what to do. His thoughts went to his soldiers… Ramirez was a brute, he was good in combat, so he would be on the squad if he was to go and scout. Steiner was a very good all round soldier, so he was on the list. Smith, on the other hand, was a technological genius bastard, who would be indispensable if the fight could take on mechs. However, two soldiers had to say behind and lead. Steiner was the corporal, so he would stay with… the other brute. _'Ramirez.'_

"Got it sir." Smith's voice interrupted Shepard's thoughts. Quickly, the commander grabbed the small mic and began.

"Who are we talking to? Identify yourself."

Silence was all they got for about three seconds, then a heavy accented voice broke in, this time they could tell that it was feminine. "We are under attack by pirates and slavers, our ship is down on this planet and we need help! Please give us assistance!"

John sighed. "I said identify yourself."

There was an awkward silence for a few seconds, and then it turned into a minute. Finally, the same feminine voice answered.

"I am a captain of a ship, we've taken heavy casualties and most of my crew is dead and I need your help!"

Shepard paced the room with the device on his hands. "Alright fine, hold tight, we will go get you."

"Thank you… oh keelah, hurry! They are already on their way!" A few gunshots were then heard and the signal was lost. _'Keelah? What the hell is that?' _Shepard wondered.

Ramirez chuckled. "Sounds like fun! Finally after so many days bored."

"Not so fast." John said. "You and Steiner will stay here in case they try to attack the mine. Me and Smith will go and check this out."

The Hispanic soldier groaned while Steiner just nodded. "You got it sir."

"Alright. Smith, with me." And with that, both equipped themselves with their armor. John quickly grabbed his assault rifle and sniper while Smith got his heavy pistol and sub machine gun. "You guys stay for anything. We will have contact before we engage."

Both soldiers nodded.

"If you don't hear from us for more than an hour, start making preparations for possible raid." Shepard then got out of the room, alongside Smith.

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><p>Nights on Caleston were deadly cold. The surface temperature could go down all the way to -10 degrees. All of these traits made Shepard miss Brazil and his training back in basics.<p>

It was a full desert, with a few alien like shrubs. Kind of like savannah from earth, but these were way smaller. There were some hills that could provide them good cover in case things got real bad.

"We are five miles from objective." Smith said as he looked at his omni tool. Shepard was driving the Mako, one of the best jack of all trades vehicles the Alliance had. A 155 mm cannon and a good, heavy machine gun, but they could not show up guns blazing with the vehicle, as they will alert the enemy and injure the victims with their fire.

"Good, tell me when we are two miles so we can drop off and go on foot." Shepard answered.

A few minutes passed, and just as they got out of the vehicle, gunshots were heard from over the hill in front of them. As far as they could tell, assault rifles and grenades were being used.

John then stopped and looked at Smith. "We will take cover by the hill, get a good glimpse of what is going on and then deduce what would be best to do."

"Roger."

Crawling on the ground, both men eventually made it up the hill. As soon as they reached it, they saw a ship surrounded by batarians, all taking cover behind different types of ship parts. Shepard took his binoculars out and zoomed into the ship being shot at.

"Shit…" He uttered.

John Arthur Shepard was shocked. While his companion was preparing his omni tool to start hacking, Shepard saw people in enviro suits fighting toe to toe with the pirates. The strange people were taking cover behind the main doors to the ship, firing back with bursts of assault rifles.

The lieutenant then looked at his soldier. "These are quarians."

"Really?" Smith's eyes widened. "Quarians here in Caleston? In the devil's belly?"

Shepard nodded. "Yeah, let me see if I can find these pirates's ship."

"Over there." Smith pointed with his finger. "I can see their ship, stupidly outdated but dangerous."

John nodded and radioed his other soldiers. "Steiner, do we still have that small mobile artillery?"

"Affirmative sir, it's good and clean." The corporal answered.

The lieutenant nodded. "Alright, we need it right now. I want an artillery strike on a small pirate ship, think you can take it?"

"Hell yeah sir, just give the word."

"How long until you can have it ready?"

"Give me and Ramirez one minute and we will have it ready."

Shepard smiled. "Excellent."

He then turned to Smith. "Coordinates of the ship?"

"Charlie 4, 3, 7, 2, 6 Echo 3."

"You heard him Steiner?" Shepard asked with a grin.

"See for yourself, brace for it!"

Smith then put his hands on his head and whispered. "Get ready sir!"

When they put their hands on their heads, they heard a deep hissing sound. Then it turned into a rough one. Finally, they saw the shells landing ruthlessly on the pirate's ship, causing them to turn and look at what had happened. The explosion rocked the ground. Using their night vision, they could see pirates on fire running amok.

The quarians, taking the initiative, gunned down several of them, leaving only two. Shepard then got his sniper and shot three pirates close to the ship, who were confused and running towards cover.

Smith launched a combat drone and distracted one of the pirates below them. Shepard, seeing this as a good distraction, ran down the hill and biotically charged at the other pirate. Landing on him by surprise, Shepard punched him on the gut, sending the batarian to the floor unconscious. The other pirate, seeing his whole crew on the ground and his ship destroyed, quickly threw his weapon to the ground and surrendered.

"Mercy! I surrender!" The rough voice of the batarian was heard. Just as that happened, Smith was running towards Shepard, radioing Steiner to cease fire and to stand by.

The other soldier got there and pointed his guns at the batarians, nodding at Shepard.

Shepard turned to see the quarians aiming their weapons at him. Well, only two quarians, one of them a female. _'Thought there were more…'_

"I just saved your asses, and now you aim your weapons at me?" He said coldly. _'So much for helping them, wow.'_

The quarians looked at each other, then nodded and put their weapons down. "Sorry, we are too worked up with what happened."

The female then began to approach Shepard. He could not help but stare at her body. Curvy, feminine, big breasts and nice hips. _'Never thought quarians could have attractive females…'_

"Thank you for your assistance human." She said as John stared at her with wide eyes. "What? You've never seen a quarian before?"

He shook his head. "Nope, never."

"Expected." She huffed. "Everyone ignores us and forgets about us. We were wiped out from the history books three centuries ago."

Smith tied the two prisoners and went to the hill, probably to get the Mako.

Shepard then saw a small body, right below the vessel's door. He quickly walked towards it, ignoring the quarian female and stared. It was a she. Her body had a suit, but she was small, very small compared to the other two. It caused John's blood to evaporate.

"How old was she?" He asked the quarian next to him, a male by the looks of it.

"She was… fifteen, she was here to see some probes launched." The male quarian answered quietly, probably mourning the young girl's loss.

John clenched his fists and his eyes narrowed. He turned and walked stiffly towards one of the batarians, grabbed him by the throat and said, "Look what you've done you damn blink, you killed a child!" He then made the batarian face the small quarian girl, on the floor, lifeless. The other two quarians were just staring at him with wide eyes.

"Karma is a bitch." Shepard growled as he pulled a knife from his foot and slit the throat of the batarian, who duly went to the ground, gurgling and drowning on his own blood.

The other batarian's eyes widened and began to scream for help as the human turned beast was already looking at him. John smirked and approached dead slowly, making the batarian scream louder, and it was to no avail.

For the quarians, the loss of the child was a really hard blow, but the human was doing what they were not. He was getting even with the murderers. The female quarian could not help but stare at him while he approached the next batarian. Smith was busy with the Mako, getting it ready to pick up the other two soldiers, so the batarian screams were duly ignored.

As the last batarian fell down, John started to feel good. He felt as if he had revenged several people, including the child; by killing those blink bastards and making them suffer for it. However, he started seeing patches…. '_What the hell is going on?' _He saw the female quarian rushing towards him.

By the time the quarian made it to his position, everything went blank…

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><p><strong>So what do you think? Awesome, good, fair or bad? Give me your opinion! Tali will be involved in this story, could play a key role, depending on reviews, so let them come!<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Here you go guys, this story is getting a good reception, so I will try to give you guys as many chapters as I can. This is short, yes, but I promise you this, you will enjoy it…. The chapter I mean! :D**

**Depending on the number of reviews, and how many people say it, I may or may not include Tali and make it a romance triangle. You guys choose!**

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><p>"No, he will be alright." She replied to the soldier, who was pacing the room, getting the attention of the other male.<p>

He stopped in his tracks and looked at her. "You just gave him a lot of morphine. He will probably wake up not being himself mostly, you have been warned."

The quarian female smirked beneath her helmet, laying weight of her body on one leg. "You saw how we held off over ten heavily armed batarian slavers, you know we can take care of him. And yes, if it wasn't for you…" She looked at the unconscious human. "We would've never make it, thanks."

Smith nodded and left the room, claiming that he was going to see the surroundings.

"In an hour, the human will wake up. Let us start picking up the tables and fix the mess here in the ship. Go for some antibiotics first." The female quarian stated, gaining a nod from the male, who was already on his way to their main infirmary.

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><p>His head hurt. There was a sharp pain that descended into the deep of his body. Trying to open his eyes, he was met with a powerful white light that just made him grunt out of annoyance and pain.<p>

"He is waking up." A feminine voice said. "You go outside if you plan to smoke out of that crap, he is probably suffering a sharp headache."

"Alright lady, I will be outside, I need to smoke, bad." Footsteps were then heard getting farther and farther away until eventually, they were gone.

For a little while, nothing was said, and Shepard was giving up trying to stay awake to listen. However, he then heard a voice, a male one, saying, "This human is a monster Daro, look what he did with the batarian pirates."

"They deserved it, these humans hate them as much as we do." She answered coldly.

"How can you say that? Yeah they are really bad people, but this human… he is a machine."

Shepard could not help but try to roll his eyes in annoyance at the quarian and wanted to reply, but the female read his mind.

"You are such a whiner Mido, now I know why you were rejected from the marines."

In his mind, John was laughing. This female had guts. Even if she was from a different species, they were so human. He was also trying to remember the lessons on the academy about quarians, but he could only recall the creation of the geth, the morning war and the Migrant Fleet. Of course, those were the common facts about them, a mysterious and elusive species that was far from the Citadel, due to them banning and closing their embassy.

"You better watch your tongue Daro, you may be the captain here, but I am the expert on colony development and resources. It is up to me if you get a good grade from the admirals."

She huffed. "Sure, but they put me here for a reason. They see me as the one capable of leading you grunts into glory, a thing you could not, not even in your dreams."

A weak laugh was heard, startling the quarians. "You got some fire lady."

The male quarian grunted and left the room as soon as he saw the human getting up from the medbay bed, with a grin on his face. His hands then went to his head, as if he was trying to keep it in place. Once he sat up, the quarian female was the only thing in his vision, with her hands on her hips.

"I see you are getting better human? Enjoying the show?" She asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, could not help but laugh. Nice job with that guy."

She tilted her head to the side. "You heard everything I assume? Good, now you know what we are doing here, no need for explanations."

The human laughed, somewhat forced. "Hah, no, I do need you to explain yourself and give me your name. From what I've heard its Daro, but I could get at least a last name hmm?"

"And what about yours? A lady deserves the name of the man that just saved her."

The somewhat flirtatious question caught the human off guard but he immediately composed himself and cleared his throat. "As soon as I get a damn vicodin or aspirin to get rid of this damn headache."

She laughed and shook her head. "Are you blind? Clearly, we are not humans." Apart from being mad and annoyed at the human's ignorance, she could not help but feel... happy. The human, so far, had not been racist towards her or her race. For the contrary, he looked... curious. She wondered if this human really did not know anything about her race or if the drugs had erased his memory. Nevertheless, the human was certainly portraying and giving his species a good reputation on her books.

As far as she could tell, humans were very good in combat. Yes, she heard of the turians getting their asses kicked by the humans in the so called Relay 314 Incident, but now, now she saw just why and how the 'great and militaristic' turians had lost so decisively to a species far hungrier, organized and fearsome than them. Just by seeing this human and his other soldier in battle today, she saw two disciplined warriors. According to the extranet, humans had formed powerful kingdoms and empires in their past as a civilization, battling and killing each other. Her thoughts were then shattered by his voice, dark and very dangerous...

"No, but sure as hell your body is as sexy as a human female's."

Silence. Awkward and really annoying silence plagued the room after his comment. _'He is heavy on the drugs the other soldier gave him to sustain the pain, that must be the cause.'_

She cleared her throat and sat on a nearby chair. "Your soldier has radioed your teammates, but your military vehicle is dead. From what he said, I am thinking of a malfunction in the engine." Changing the subject was now the best option for both of them. She wanted to avoid the soldier's constant flirting. The fact that he did not seem to care about it was quite alarming, but she was sure the morphine was having a party with him.

"So I have to stay here?" He groaned dramatically.

She nodded and smirked beneath her helmet. "Afraid so human, you will have to stay here, bored in a quarian ship that no longer works."

"Oh well, they will pick us up by sunset, fortunately. So, what is your name lady?"

"You first, what is your name?" She retorted.

He rolled his eyes, and let out a sigh. "Lieutenant John Arthur Shepard, N7 Marines, Alliance Military."

"I noticed that, your skills in the battlefield were worth of both a mention and a commendation." She somewhat praised.

"Yeah yeah, whatever you say lady." He dismissed with this hand. "Well, your name?" He asked, an interest sparking in his blue eyes.

She sighed and got up, getting a canister from a nearby table. "Daro'Xen Vas Moreh, head of the colony research, Migrant Fleet of course." She finished annoyingly.

"A job I presume you don't like?" He asked with a smirk.

She nodded, looking at John straight in the eyes. "Waste of time, it would take centuries before we can adapt to one of those so called 'promise' planets. Our government is full of stupid people human."

"Oh, that is why you are in those weird suits?" He asked, nodding at her chest.

A groan came from her mouth. "Yes human, obviously."

"Sorry princess, but here the human has not heard shit about your race, safe for a few facts. Why do you use those suits then really?" Of course, most people were ignorant of the quarian race. An enigma, the Migrant Fleet was ignored by most, elusive to the curious and hated by most.

"Because our immune systems are really weak, that is why we use these suits. Pathogenic microbes were comparatively rare in our home world's atmosphere." She explained while looking at a box that contained antibiotics. "Unlike you humans, who adapted into a world full of diseases and sickness, we did not. Our immune systems instead adapt to the foreign disease rather than fight it like in your species."

Shepard had been listening and watching in awe at her explanation. He was just… impressed by her knowledge. Sure, he was expecting a short answer, or at the most a poor explanation, but he was now one of the only beings in the galaxy to know that much. Well, there could be asari that knew of this.

"I just found my cute walking codex." He then winked at her, laughing as the female huffed her chest.

She placed her hands on her hips and stared him down. "And I wondered how humans were, now I know."

"Heh, well at least I knew some facts before your terrific explanation about immune systems and humans." He smirked while stretching his back, getting a few cracks from his bones, relaxing him more.

Daro tilted her head to the side and crossed her arms over her chest. She was now interested in what this human had heard of her race. "Really? And what are those?"

John smirked. "Creators of the geth, badass engineers, Migrant Fleet, which contains thousands of ships blah blah blah, all of that jazz." His eyes then scanned her from head to toe, "And surely they forgot to add that some females are pretty good looking."

The quarian felt heat rise to her cheeks. "Is your race this… ignorant?"

"Only with new races we don't know about lady." He replied with a smile on his face.

For a few minutes, they descended into silence. Shepard was looking at the ceiling, clearly curious of this ship while Daro was giving him a good once over, a scan as some would say. She was incredibly impressed with human anatomy. Strong, sturdy, tough, resilient bodies, with a really diverse DNA. That was one of the many reasons why she was interested in Shepard, yes, it was mere scientific curiosity.

As the scan began from head to toe, she noticed how their faces were eerily similar to them in terms of anatomy. Two eyes with tear ducts, a nose, lips, and teeth, clearly giving her a large wave of theories of how could humans were that similar to her species. Of course, there were the big differences. Shepard's hands were large, counting five fingers in each. His feet, had also five toes, even though her eyes could only see his socks. Still, it was obvious he had five toes, counting the small one. It was shocking to say the least, but humans were very similar to quarians.

When she reached his private parts… she blushed. Turning away, she bit her lip and smiled. _'Never had these kinds of thoughts in my life… Heh, yeah, human males are kind of… cute.'_

She would never dare say that word in public, much less to Shepard, who had proved out to be a major headache to her. Ironic that he was suffering a headache himself, served him right. In the end, sexual dimorphism among both species was similar, close. Human females, as the female quarian had seen in the extranet, were similar to her. Some had medium sized breasts, petite bodies and small build. _'Maybe that is why he is hitting on me so much… it makes sense, human males could see us as similar to their females.'_

"Are you done looking at me?" Shepard was looking at her now, smirking.

Daro felt her cheeks turn into furnaces, like those used in research of powerful materials and artifacts. She turned away, muttering a "was looking at something else" phrase.

"Sure, sure." He smiled and laid back down, his hands under his head, giving him a pillow of sorts. "Do you quarians get this feeling of kind of like tickles in your stomach?"

The quarian looked at him. "You mean when we get nervous or excited? Yes, we do."

"Nice… because you make me feel like that you know?"

If Daro was on the fleet, she would have given any quarian male a piece of her mind and a show of force if that comment had come out of his mouth. This was a human though, and a good looking one at that. However, she was not interested in any romantic bullshit, she was having her own life, and she needed to give the quarian race the power and glory they always deserved. Romance was not needed, nor an alien that would never understand her culture, her life, her fleet or her dreams. Since she was a child, she dreamed of performing surgeries on the geth and making them her own. Doing that, she was going to give the quarian people back the power and respect they deserved.

Sadly, this dream was far away from her, but that did not mean she was going to give up. She was going to keep fighting, studying and working hard for it. If that meant that she was not going to have a little fun in her life then so be it, her parents never payed attention to her anyway. Always alone, always on her own, always lonely. She thanked them though, it was because of those parents that she was fiercely independent now, and she was going to continue that way, prove everyone in the galaxy wrong and one day, return to her home world. This human, this... male, despite being handsome, he was not going to ruin her plans. She had better things to do, and she had to get out fast before he, not her, he could get out of control.

"Whatever, I am going to sleep, so I will see you in a while Shepard." She got up but a hand held her in place. The human was now holding her arm with his right hand, his eyes sparkling like diamonds.

"John, call me John." He said softly.

She was a very strong, independent woman, and she was also as tough as nails. Despite all that, though, this goddamn human was giving her some problems in staying up. Her knees were buckling, just about to give out right there and then.

"Yes… John." She whispered. Noticing her hand was touching his, she backed away and cursed, leaving a confused yet happy human behind.

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><p><strong>Well, tell me what you think! And that is why I need you to review, because I know you are reading this!<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Wow, I am impressed with the great hit this story has been. I was expecting it though, some people are open to new ideas, and Daro/Shepard is something new but also very welcome to some. Thanks y'all, keep those reviews coming, give ideas, criticism, whatever you want.**

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><p>The incident a couple of minutes earlier had been incredibly embarrassing for Daro. She was now in her room, debating what to do after leaving this ship and how to return to the Migrant Fleet. If she was to ask from someone a so called 'ride' it would utterly end her career as a respected scientist and leader. So, she had to get a new ship, fast, and leave before an incident with the human race could take place.<p>

'_Humans…' _The new species in the galaxy, a race which caused great curiosity and fear among most species in the Citadel and far beyond. She was among those in the curious side. As a scientist, Daro wanted to properly study the humans. However, to get her convinced that they are friendly would be like trying to stop a train with a water hose. Impossible, if not an idea out of this very universe, said universe that has been so damn unfair with her race. No, she was just curious, and curiosity always brings discovery.

She was now laying on her bed, looking at the clock, which was seemingly stuck on the 11:00 hours. Groaning, she sat up and sighed. Right now, Shepard was probably interrogating her crew mate. Not that it mattered to her anyway, but information was vital to her cause. Convinced that the best way to properly deal with the situation was to show up, she got up and walked calmly towards the medbay.

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><p>"Ah man, I am just asking you, do you quarians have sex or you can't because of those suits?" Shepard was having a lot of fun with the quarian male, who had proved to be an utter fool and scared man. He had been trying to dodge any questions that could potentially harm the Migrant Fleet, but it was getting tiring. The human was doing a very good job at asking and destroying his brain constantly.<p>

Mido growled. "Human, stop asking dumb questions!"

"You can call me Shepard, damn." John laughed. "And I just saved your ass a few hours ago, show some respect."

The male quarian sighed. "Fine… Shepard. Now, would you kindly stop asking all these mindless questions?"

John was having a blast, but had to show some respect, and maybe, just maybe, the best humanity had to offer. He felt… in the air. High, really high in the sky, so much he could literally touch the clouds with his finger and taste their sugar with his mouth… _'Idiot, you are high on the drugs they put on you to sustain the pain, show some discipline, show that you are a damn marine.' _The remaining good piece of his mind reminded him.

Immediately, Shepard straightened himself and got quiet. Thinking it over, he thought he had not done anything bad, safe for making a pass at that quarian female, but he did not take it back. Quarian females, in his opinion, were these very mysterious individuals that required his utmost attention and… for science, see what they look inside those suits. _'Note to self, for science!'_ He grinned at his gun ho attitude and great enthusiasm to help science uncover the secrets behind the greatest hips in the galaxy.

Seeing the human really quiet and thinking he messed up, Mido sighed. "Sorry Shepard, I just… have a lot of things in mind. Me and Daro are the only survivors, the other ten died… so there is a lot to think about."

"No worries." Shepard smiled faintly. "I understand. However, I have to ask you something…"

'_Oh Keelah….' _"Yes?"

"How do you seduce quarian females?"

Mido's eyes widened and coughed. "This conversation is over."

The human laughed. "Oh come on! I am doing this for the good of the scientist divisions in the Alliance."

An awkward silence began and Shepard was beginning to get bored. Smith had left to try and fix the Mako while Steiner was busy contacting command to send a ship and some supplies.

Finally, a sound was heard, and John grinned as Daro stepped in from her private room. "Couldn't sleep." She stated.

"No shit Sherlock…." Shepard replied. Seeing the confused stares of both quarians, he laughed, saying, "Sorry, human idiom."

So much for a good conversation… however, Shepard was now seeing the discomfort that was shared between Daro and Mido, actually it was much more than that… tension, lots of tension. They kept their distance, some glares and an occasional 'screw you' stare from time to time. That could well put some aces on his side, like the ones with which he beat his team, but not before cheating. _'They all cheat, it was my turn.' _He excused himself, grinning.

Daro walked calmly towards her chair and simply said, "Mido, go and check if anything here is salvageable."

"Are you insane?" He shouted. "That would take me hours! It would only be me! Remember that we lost our crew!"

She laughed, something Shepard found… enticing. "Might as well start now, so you can finish this earlier, don't you think? Or is that head of yours as empty as your masculinity?"

"Hey! You damn well know I am in charge here you…" He held his finger in the air, pointing at the quarian female, "you stupid igaj!"

Screaming was also part of quarian culture, it seemed. Shepard could not help himself but feel captivated by this…. extraordinary experience. He was probably one of the very first humans to really get to know a group of quarians. _'My marines are missing a lot of stuff, damn!'_

As soon as he finished his furious ranting, Daro got up and rapidly punched him in the gut, sending the quarian to the ground, gasping for air. In a matter of seconds, the male got up and left, somewhat limping, holding his stomach, well that part of the suit.

"Hot damn!" Shepard said loudly with a smile on his face. "That was… sexy as hell!"

She could not help but grin at his statement. Hell, she was trying to hold her laugh, the punch felt really good.

"Well John, looks like you are enjoying the show…" Daro said with a smile on her voice. Thinking it over, she was wondering when the last time she smiled or at least laughed. It had been years…

John clapped like a little kid on a toy store. "Shit, I missed the popcorn, it was that awesome!"

'_Popcorn?' _ As soon as her VI translator began giving her the perfect definition for that phrase, she laughed and nodded. Within a minute, both passed from being awkward to laughing.

"Hah, I guess so John." She replied.

The human tilted his head to the side, with a huge smile plastered on his face. "You have a… very sexy accent Daro."

She blushed right after that and, for the first time in her life, well maybe since she was a little child, she stuttered… "T…Thank you I guess?" His eye scans and smiles were having some weird effect on her, and she had to do something about it.

For a fierce woman like Daro, showing weakness was one of the worst situations one could suffer. No one but her parents had seen her vulnerable side. It was like… trusting, and she did not trust anyone. She learned the hard way when she was betrayed all those years ago during her Pilgrimage. Trust was a virtue no one could afford to have, especially her.

"Welcome." He replied.

Tilting her head to the side, she observed him and eventually mustered the courage… no, the determination to ask him something that had been on her mind for quite a while.

"John, how old are you?" She asked, looking at him intently.

He smirked and said, "Twenty one, though most say I am too mature for my age heh."

It was a joke, and she knew it. From what she had seen of this human, he was probably the lousiest, most idiotic, aggressive, ignorant, handsome, quite the… reproductive organ… Huh? _'Bosh'tet! Don't think like that!' _

"And how old are you Daro?" He was already looking at her with those strange yet incredible eyes of his. She felt herself drowning in them, drowning in those blue oceans that caught her gaze quite so much.

"Twenty nine." Yeah, giving that her age was quite difference among them could discourage him from further flirting with her. She was hoping to her ancestors that John Arthur Shepard, the human that saved her, could make this idiotic situation stop.

Against all odds, and against her own hypothesis, where he would be terrified of her, he laughed, laughed! "Twenty nine eh? Damn! Your voice sounds so young…. thought you were eighteen of nineteen." He then turned his head to her and smiled. "Hope you are not lying to me princess, I would not like that very much."

Seeing his face with a smile, she assumed he was joking about it, so she just shrugged. "Lying is inefficient, unless the situation requires it."

"Exactly!" He got excited. "I told that to my parents all the time, that lying could be good on some occasions, but no! I was a liar, so had to be reprimanded, no video games or extranet for a week!" He groaned and laid down in bed. "Stupid torture."

It was like watching a teenager, throwing tantrums, laughing, joking and even flirting. She could not help but grin at the situation. There was something about him, something that interested her. He was… a good… specimen. She was now seeing how the human male approached the females, and, though somewhat similar to male quarians, had an entire different taste to it.

Arrogant, brute and incredibly proud, those were human males. Though it would discourage those proud asari or the ugly turian females, quarian females would find it interesting. Her race was known for being so isolated, and never to try anything new, like if they could afford it. She stopped thinking as soon as John opened his mouth again.

"God, you don't know how creepy the asari and salarians are…" He was looking at his omni tool, fascinated with its contents.

She eyed him curiously. "What makes you say that John?"

"Asari smile at you while they stab you in the back…" He began as he took a sip of water. "While the salarians are behind them, calculating how much they will get from your insurance money."

Daro laughed, clearly understanding him. "And the turians?"

He chukled. "Turians like to shoot stuff, so they could be sent by the asari to do their dirty work, as it has been for centuries… bunch of retards."

Now, it looked like this human was… racist. He was criticizing the main species of the Citadel. One could expect it though, as the humans were attacked by the turians. It was illegal, as the humans did not know a thing about laws on mass relays, and the way they did carried out the reprisal was simply brutal. Orbital bombardment of Shanxi, killing thousands… she did not blame him for hating them, but she had to ask.

"Do you hate aliens John?" She asked curiously, but there was a hint of cautiousness too.

He laughed, hard. "If I hated aliens, dear Daro, you would have been killed a long time ago… or pinned down against this very bed while I explore your body to further understand your race and find weak points…" John smirked at the last words.

Heat rose up immediately to her cheeks, and due to a force of habit, looked away. Then, her mind talked to her senses. _'Isn't it great that this human can tell you of their history? Maybe later, the quarian race may benefit from their sudden rise to power. Who knows? Maybe they can help with the geth question! After all, they are new on the galactic stage…'_

She nodded to herself and looked at the human, who was looking at the door, probably out of boredom. "Hey John." Daro called him, which made Shepard turn immediately. "I would like to learn about human history."

John smirked. "Why so interested in something as dull as human history?"

"Because I want to." She replied coldly.

He chuckled. "Okay, history was one of my fortes back in high school, so you're in good hands."

Daro merely nodded, folding her hands beneath her breasts, putting all weight on one of her legs, a habit she was used to do when listening.

The human sat up and stretched, a yawn and some cracks coming out of him. Daro could not help but stare at the power muscle he had in his arms and legs. He saw her eyeing him up, smirking in the process.

"Okay, first of all, lesson number one in Human History for Dummies… I mean quarians." He laughed at her expense.

She growled. "Could you please tell me something about humans? Something they like to do?"

"Oh yes of course!" He smiled. "War."

War… one of the basic elements of human life in Shepard's books… conflict. "Humanity has fought itself to submission quite a few times." He chuckled quietly. "Wars that have killed millions and millions of people throughout the years we've been in charge of our planet." John the scratched his chin. "How many quarians died in the Morning War?"

A subject she was not used to dealing with people, especially aliens, but did not feel bad talking about it. Her species had suffered from it, no one paid attention to them, and were exiled. Would it hurt to instruct one human in it? Like some people say, cure the ignorance, and it may bring a gift in the future.

"Billions, we speculate that the number, in total, was about nine billion, but we don't know for sure, a vast amount of records was lost during the war and our flight." She said, without a single word missed or some sadness in her speech.

Impressed, Shepard nodded with his eyes wide. "Wow, hot damn." He said, leaning on a small drawer close to his bed. "Pretty sure we've lost that amount of people already…"

"Excuse me?" She reacted to his ignorant comment, and it made her mad, mad at his stupidity and lack of respect at her race's sacrifice. One day, she will prove everyone wrong, get the geth back and unleash hell upon all who have disrespected her race. She would be controlling the most powerful army in the galaxy, and ignorant people like Shepard would see what the quarian race is capable of.

He chuckled, something that made her blood boil. "You don't know anything about us right? Then chill the hell out, I am not making fun of your ancestors." After taking a sip of his water yet again, he smiled. She just stared at him. "Human history is bloody lady. We were born to fight, we have always been fighting for as long as we can remember."

"Kind of noticed that in your First Contact War…" She replied, a slight amount of sarcasm in her voice.

He nodded. "Yes, but did you know of our past conflicts? Where hundreds of thousands would die by the day?"

Daro froze. She hated not knowing about something and being asked about it. The quarian female liked to assert control of every situation, every conversation, and most important of all, win. Always win, no matter what.

"Enlighten me, _John_." She stressed his name to make him feel on the spot.

He smiled. "We've had so many conflicts in our recorded history that it would take me months to give you a rundown on the ones I know about." John laughed. "Many bloodthirsty civilizations, vying for power, which I don't mind but…" He frowned, and she noticed it. "World War II was the worst conflict of all time. Over sixty million people died, and though it has no comparison to yours…" He trailed off. "But the thing is that we were killing each other, not just out of ambition but also racism, skin color, race and religion."

Of course…. turians had this kind of racism amongst each other due to their colony war. Clan markings were important in showing who was who and from which family or planet. Humans probably had the same thing but using skin color?

"Do you quarians have different skin colors?" He asked quietly.

She nodded and smirked beneath her helmet. "Yes, though no one can see it, because of you know..." Daro pointed at her helmet. "Even then, we have evidence that we are a very diverse species, but not as much as yours."

He nodded and smiled. "Nice, I was kind of expecting quarian babes to be of different colors and shapes..."

Everything grew quiet after that, but it was not out of awkwardness, which was really a miracle in his mind. He flexed his muscles and moaned as he relaxed, feeling his body 'happy' at his attention. She could not help but stare at him. Daro was now believing herself in that human males were somewhat attractive, and for science she would do something her species needed since they were exiled.

'_Experiment… maybe if the clean room…'_

* * *

><p><strong>Yes, she wants to know about the clean room, no I won't tell you what's going to happen. It will be a great shift to the story, all I am saying.<strong>

**If you want Tali to make an appearance and play a key role in the story, review and tell me. Thanks y'all!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for the reviews peeps, this story has been getting a very warm reception, and because of that, here you go the chapter where everything will be answered. Onward!**

* * *

><p>While Daro stood there, probably in a state of heavy thinking, Shepard just eyed her curvy body and sighed. <em>'God, I feel like a badass, I would kill anything really, just to get a hold of her…'<em>

Suddenly, Shepard saw an entrancing white light, very close to Daro, the female quarian who was talking to him, though he could not hear her. He tried to reply, but his mouth just mumbled.

The ship then started to fall apart, things falling, tables flipping over and the female quarian still there, standing defiantly, looking at him as his body began to float.

He tried to walk towards her, but a strange energy held him in place. It was so damn frustrating! He cursed in his mind, trying to summon his biotic powers, but none came. Blackness began to set in, with Daro still in that very same place, her mouthpiece still showing light, meaning she was speaking.

"John…" Her voice was barely a whisper, but powerful enough for him to hear it.

He gritted his teeth, sudden pain in his lungs. It felt as air was escaping his body, burning all through him. Shepard was now trying to scream, but his mouth did not move once again.

"John…" She whispered as she tried to approach but her body was floating away from him, causing John to curse inside of his mind, trying to figure out how many curse words he could think of.

Blank… then darkness all around him.

* * *

><p>"Hey Shepard." Joker said, turning his seat towards one of his best friends. "Heard you never leave your omni tool in peace, you onto the so called net dating services?" He grinned.<p>

John just stood there, with a smile on his face. "Joker…" He warned playfully.

The five star pilot laughed. "Seriously man! You have Ashley and Liara drooling all over for you, and then there's Tali, who I don't know if she has saliva or not, but she has the hots for you John."

The commander shook his head and turned to walk away, not wanting to hear the pilot rambling about the "numerous" women who wanted him. He had no time for that, he had time to save the galaxy, that was it.

"They never listen to the cripple, no one listens to the cripple." Joker mumbled playfully.

John laughed and as soon as he turned to get back at his best pilot, everything in the scenery around him began to change.

* * *

><p>Shaking his head out of confusion, he found himself in his bed, looking at his omni tool. He grinned at the message for him.<p>

"_John, if you don't reply to this message right now, you can consider our friendship and exchanges over._

_-Daro"_

He chuckled quietly and began to reply, but once again that powerful light took him away, several dark sports filling his cabin.

* * *

><p>Once again, he found himself in darkness… only for the engineering to show up all of a sudden, with Tali in front of him, her curvy body and enticing hips taking his eyes away from hers. She was rambling about her race while Shepard was just paying attention at what his subconscious wanted.<p>

"You know that quarians are a social people, ever since the geth took our home world and colonies from us, we just..."

He raised his hand, a grin on his face. "Tali, I am an expert on quarians, I can tell you that the Migrant Fleet has over fifty thousand ships, your immune systems adapted to sickness rather than fight it, so that is why you are in those suits. Also, you hook suits up as a sign of trust with romantic partners. Am I wrong?" John smiled cockily. "Wish you could know that much about us humans..."

The young quarian stared at him with wide eyes, probably blushing out of embarrassment as her face beneath the helmet darkened. She found herself with a man that knew more about her race than anyone else in the ship, or probably in the whole Citadel Space. _'Keelah…'_

"I got my cute walking quarian codex a long time ago…." He blurted out, causing the quarian in front of him to just stare, not being able to come up with a reply.

Everyone around him laughed, but then it turned into a hollow sound. He looked around, finding darkness once again, which was scaring the crap out of his very soul. _'God, I never did drugs in my life, what the hell?'_

* * *

><p>BANG!<p>

A loud gun shot and he found himself in cover, fighting geth in Feros, the most boring planet he ever set foot on. Caleston was once on his list, but it turned out to be the best planet and experience he ever had in his short life.

"Engaging hostiles!" A turian screamed. Shepard just stared at the hail of bullets passing over his head, the rock protecting him shaking with the grenades exploding nearby.

His omni tool beeped, and he looked at it.

"_Online poker tonight. _

_Daro."_

He laughed and summoned his biotic powers, charging at the two geth platforms trying to flank his team, his teammates screaming at his stubborn fighting style. Once he eliminated the geth soldiers, he felt himself smile, he always enjoyed fighting, but not before challenging the genius of Daro to a poker game. No matter what, he always lost, but he was already awaiting for her flirty yet aggressive remarks about him.

In the end, before he could taste that moment, he was taken into the light, this time it felt as if it was burning his heart.

* * *

><p>After a few seconds of nothingness, he was staring at his omni tool, hearing countless people talking and bartering around him. He looked, staring at a big sign.<p>

"Flux…" He muttered, unable to comprehend what was going on. Part of his mind already knew what was going on while the other worked hard to realize the situation.

Garrus and some of the crew were talking amiably while Tali was staring at the dance floor, stealing some glances at him. He felt sorry for her… Here she was, trying to get the guts to ask him to dance, when a man was supposed to. They were very good friends, and he was just going to make sure she had a good time. Glancing away from the timid quarian, Liara and Ashley were looking at him, their eyes full of want and desire.

He shook his head, got up and walked calmly towards the only girl interested enough to talk or socialize with.

"Want to dance with me my lady?" He grinned as he held his hand towards her.

She stared at him with wide eyes, unable to comprehend what he was doing.

"Yes…" She shyly replied and got up, holding his hand, somewhat tightly. Both then went to the dance floor, some cheers in the background. Just as soon as he was going to dance with her, he felt an energy pushing him away.

He tried to fight it, but it was useless. John just stood still while the Flux and all of the people inside shrank into a single block. In darkness, Shepard only saw that block and several others.

In one, he was opening his Christmas gifts while his father, smoking his pipe, grinned and his mother laughed. In another, he was being promoted to Lieutenant Commander by Admiral Hackett himself, said man having a smile on his face. The next blocks contained happy, sad, and overwhelming scenes, in one he cried for the soldiers he lost at Elysium, in another he chanted happily as Sovereign had been defeated. Countless memories, countless experiences, and all his.

He got it then. He was reliving his whole life, he was experiencing it all over again. John shed a tear as he saw his parents, standing proudly, waving goodbye at him when he departed to the Normandy. In a flash, he saw the faces of his best friends and allies. The people that actually got into his heart, when no one else had. Joker with his antics, his father with his mild yet strict personality, his warm mother smiling and consoling him, Garrus cracking jokes with him by the Mako, Tali talking about her race and finally, the very last one…. a quarian woman looking intently at him, her arms wide open, as if wanting to hug him. Daro'Xen, one of the most intelligent individuals he ever met, was looking at him, waiting for his soul to just give up his fight.

It was all obvious now. He felt his lungs ache once again and now found himself staring at the Normandy, completely destroyed, its debris passing by his body so close that he could feel the pressure as it landed on the planet. The fire of said objects as they crashed with the atmosphere of the planet burning his entire being.

He just saw his whole life. The best and worst he went through in his twenty nine years, which passed through his eyes within split seconds. As soon as he realized that he was going to die, he saw Daro once again. _'She will take me to heaven….'_

In the next five seconds, Shepard started to lose consciousness and finally, everything was black. His life was taken away…

* * *

><p>'<em>That bosh'tet, I sent him that bloody message more than six days ago and he hasn't replied.' <em>She fumed.

Daro was staring at her omni tool, waiting for that damn primate to answer. She had been working as one of the prime scientists in the fleet, her records just growing and growing. Power was being transferred to her, she could feel it. She could see it with the nods of respect and awe of some of her officers and subordinates.

Her omni tool beeped, and she looked at it immediately. _'Good, he finally replied…' _She scanned through her private messages and saw that very message was from none other than Admiral Rael, her boss.

"_Get to the plaza._

–_Rael"_

She shrugged and started walking towards the place where quarians would meet and barter. It was a good place to gossip or simply talk to stall time. The vast majority of quarians were busy people, so they had to take a break from the countless working to get a break and socialize.

Just as she approached, a lot of people gathered around an individual. Curious, Daro went straight to where the fuzz was. None other than Tali'Zorah nar Rayya was there, her head low, body showing signs of tiredness.

People were shouting her name, all in a cheery fashion. Daro was impressed with Tali, her actions fully showed the galaxy what the quarian people were capable of, or as Shepard had described in one of his countless emails. _'That primate better reply…'_

Tali shook hands with some people and then, after a few minutes of small talk and shaking of hands, she retreated into a small spot close to the tiny amphitheatre. Daro was curious, Tali showed signs of… sadness.

When she was about to think of any possible answers to her really strange behavior, a powerful sound shook the ship.

"Hello people, this is Gadia Verka, and we have shocking news…" Daro watched as the asari reporter took some datapads from her desk and watched at the camera, her eyes grim. "The Alliance and the Citadel Council have confirmed that Lieutenant Commander and Council Spectre John Arthur Shepard has been killed in action fighting geth…."

'_No…' _Her mind fought off countless attempts by her brain to believe those news. She could not believe it, she would never believe it. Shepard was the most powerful soldier in the galaxy, no one could stop him. When you tried to mess with John, it was like trying to stop a super massive black hole.

"Shepard, who saved countless people from geth and rogue forces, supported the Feros colony and saved the Council from certain death, has been confirmed KIA by the Alliance Military and by the Citadel Council, we are incredibly sorry for this loss, may his soul rest in peace… forever."

A tear formed on her eye, and it fell to her cheek, and then another, and another, and another. She stared at the vidscreen, her mind still trying to believe this... this... madness. She turned her audio transmitters off, and then, just then, began to cry.

She silently retreated from the center of the plaza as her eyes continued to shed tear after tear, her only thoughts on that man that had changed her life. An innocent yet deadly warrior, who had saved her life, befriended her and then continued to be her best friend. She began to cry harder now. Daro never told how special he was for her. The only friend she had, the only damn friend she could talk to about random thoughts, play with or even flirt. Ninety four point eight percent was all electronic, all messaging. Still, he was her savior when she was stressed or mad. There was no other that could listen to her ranting and frustration at the senior quarian leaders for their stupidity in leading her race into nothing but more salvaging, vagrancy and sadness. False hopes, sad news and overwhelming odds against her species.

Then a thought came to her mind. _'Tali'Zorah was with him, everyone is cheering her but that igaj could not save him!' _Incredibly mad, she walked slowly towards the timid quarian, who was leaning on a rail, her eyes on the ground. Activating her audio transmitters once again, she stood by Tali, her cold gaze penetrating the shy quarian's visor.

"You let him die, you, who everyone cheers for and praises as the greatest quarian in this fleet, could not save the man that could have changed this galaxy…" She said quietly yet coldly, the other quarian woman just staring at her, her posture that of someone tired and battered to submission.

"You will never be a hero, because you could not save the one who truly was…" And with that, Daro retreated, her eyes still shedding tears. As she stared back, Tali sat on the floor and held her visor on her hands.

Daro walked slowly to her private quarters, not wanting anyone to see her in this state. Finally, she made it, and locked the door immediately. She was hurt, the pain of her best friend's death stuck in her throat, heart and eyes. Trying to contain herself, she just got up from her bed and punched her computer terminal, small sparks coming out of it. Turning off her audio transmitters of her suit once again, she screamed at the top of her lungs and knelt of the floor.

She then remembered his message to her.

"_Promise me, no matter what happens, you will fight for your race, and you will get your home world. Promise me that and I will always support you."_

Crying, she laid on her bed, hoping she could sleep after so much pain in the day, but not before swearing on Shepard's soul that she would never rest until her people got their home world.

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><p><strong>Sad chapter that I really enjoyed writing, because we all know that Shepard is the next Jesus, he will come back from the dead.<strong>

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and you reading, yes you! Tell me what you think, I write, you tell me if you enjoyed it or not! Thanks y'all!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you all for the reviews, keep them coming. As for the threesome… well, guess you will have to keep reading in order to find out ;)**

**Onward!**

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><p>John Shepard's Death plus Six Months<p>

Business, all business in the fleet. That was the mentality of head researcher Daro'Xen Vas Moreh, who had not only impressed her boss, Rael, but also gained a powerful boost to her popularity among the greater political circles. One of the admirals had step down, for reasons unknown. Of course, this was a way to prove herself as not only a capable leader but also a great politician. Her promise to John Shepard still lingered on her mind. Well, it lingered every single day.

She was absolutely furious with the Citadel Council and the Alliance, both governments bent on destroying everything he achieved and gained. His hard work and sacrifices were discarded like old omni tools. Daro thought of the Council as retarded and highly stupid politicians, while the Alliance was just kissing ass to get more power, and they did not care if Shepard went down because of it.

Shepard's father, a respected general and highly recognized Alliance officer, had retired from the military… at the age of fifty two. Hannah, his mother, continued to serve as the captain of the mighty Kilimanjaro dreadnought but outright refused her promotion to admiral, calling it a political ploy. Daro now saw where John had gotten his intelligence from, his mother's genes.

Tali, that girl… she was now a leader and example among her people. Daro resented it. Why? Simple, she was being treated as a hero but she could not save the true hero of the galaxy, her best friend and… well, she could not get into that. He was dead, she was alive, end of story.

Daro was now sitting on her office, scanning several documents about missions of the Migrant Fleet aboard. Boring, dead boring, reading everything until her eyes got tired. In the end, this was helping her get the necessary political standing to be nominated for the empty Admiralty Board seat. She had to do it, whether she liked it or not.

Suddenly, her omni tool beeped, a message. She had to hold her eyes from tearing; the ringtone was the same as when John was online, ready to talk or play with her.

As she checked it, out of curiosity and a great excuse to stop looking at the countless datapads, her eyes widened. It was a message from Hannah Shepard…

"_To whom it may concern,_

_Attached to this message is a file that was saved in my son's private omni tool, it was meant for you Daro'Xen Vas Moreh. I don't know who you are but if John talked to you, then you were of his trust. I am sorry for sending it so late, but I barely found it. I did not open it or anything of that; I still respect my son's privacy to this day. _

_Have a good day._

_Captain Hannah Shepard, Alliance Navy."_

In a state of shock, everything around her turned into a world very far away from her ears. Her brain and senses were all focused on the shocking message. John had thought of her a little before he died. Her eyes watered up, ready to give in countless tears again. She had not cried for a week, but now it seemed that week was just useless.

Excusing herself among her staff, she exited her office and walked rapidly to her quarters, some people watching her with curious gazes. She did not care; this was something to see in private, for her eyes only. No one else was supposed to see it but her.

Quickly, she opened the door to her private quarters with her omni tool. The heavily encrypted door opened and she stepped in, feeling her body somewhat wobbly. Her omni tool was still on standby, so she sat on her bed, composed herself and finally opened the document, which was surprisingly large…

Pressing the "play" button, her omni tool then unleashed a strong hologram. Her eyes widened once again as John Shepard, her best friend and, a dead man, was standing up, looking at her…

The hologram smiled. "Daro, if you are seeing this, it's either because I am dead or I grew tired of you…. nah, I am just kidding, about the tired part." He chuckled, rubbing his eyes, probably because of lack of sleep. "Anyway, I just wanted to say that I am really proud of having such a great friend and I hope you, no matter what happens to me, will continue pushing for what the quarian race should have."

She cried as soon as he started talking and smiled a little when he said he was getting tired of her. John looked extremely handsome. He was wearing his blue navy uniform, and his lady killer smile just made her body warm, no one else had that effect on her. Even under extreme circumstances, she would deny this though.

John then looked at the floor, ashamed. "I am sorry, but I don't want you crying over me, I do want you to use that energy and pent up frustration to get Rannoch back, and show those fucking geth who is boss."

Daro frowned at first but then got it, and started laughing, a giggle coming out of her mouth unwillingly. When he was alive, there was no one like him, and in the future, no individual will be like him. He would always be the strongest, cockiest and greatest man she had ever met in her mind….

"I was thinking… you know investing, economic stuff, and I thought of doing that in the business that will, most likely, skyrocket in the near future." He then got his omni tool and a credit chit. "In this message, there are five million credits, money from my service as a spectre, salvaging and other… things."

Now it was Daro's mouth that was wide open. "I support YOU, and your cause. Those idiotic leaders you have right now don't have ambition, don't have balls; don't want to succeed as a race. That is why I am investing in someone who will not disappoint me."

Now, she was not only shocked, but slightly flattered. "Tali was given a very good gift, so his father will probably be drooling all over it. On the other hand, you will get the money and necessary supplies to finish this. We need a strong quarian race to defeat the reapers in the near future. You know this."

Shepard laughed. "Well… I hope I win next time in poker, thanks to those countless poker sessions, my imaginary bank accounts have gone poor!"

She laughed. "Oh John…"

The hologram then looked at the side, hissing. "Ugh… well I have to go, the three stooges want to see me." _'The turian, the asari and the salarian, nice one John.'_

"Goodbye Daro, I know you will continue to amaze me, whether I am alive or not, I will be watching your progress. There is a song attached to this document, listen to it." And with that, the hologram disappeared. She sighed and a single tear fell to her cheek.

Daro then looked at her omni tool, fiddling with it to get the song to play. She activated her suit components to listen to it herself, so as to not disturb anyone around. Not that she cared, she wanted it for herself only.

She read the singer's name. _'Israel Kamak what? Hmmm really weird name, can't even spell it.' _Finally, she put "play" and laid on her bed, closing her eyes as the soft tune began to fill her ears with warmth.

_Somewhere over the rainbow  
>Way up high<br>And the dreams that you dreamed of  
>Once in a lullaby<br>Somewhere over the rainbow  
>Blue birds fly<br>And the dreams that you dreamed of  
>Dreams really do come true ooh ooooh<br>Someday I'll wish upon a star  
>Wake up where the clouds are far behind me ee ee eeh<br>Where trouble melts like lemon drops  
>High above the chimney tops that's where you'll find me oh<br>Somewhere over the rainbow bluebirds fly  
>And the dream that you dare to, why, oh why can't I? <em>

She was already crying when the lyrics began to travel in her mind, deciphering them with the help of her translator. It was an extremely calm yet hopeful song, so full of energy. She could not describe it, but she was feeling really hopeful of her future.

_Well I see trees of green and_  
><em>Red roses too,<em>  
><em>I'll watch them bloom for me and you<em>  
><em>And I think to myself<em>  
><em>What a wonderful world<em>

_Well I see skies of blue and I see clouds of white_  
><em>And the brightness of day<em>  
><em>I like the dark and I think to myself<em>  
><em>What a wonderful world<em>

"Always the charmer John'Shepard vas Milan." She laughed to herself as the song continued to play.

_The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky_  
><em>Are also on the faces of people passing by<em>  
><em>I see friends shaking hands<em>  
><em>Saying, "How do you do?"<em>  
><em>They're really saying, I...I love you<em>  
><em>I hear babies cry and I watch them grow,<em>  
><em>They'll learn much more<em>  
><em>Than we'll know<em>  
><em>And I think to myself<em>  
><em>What a wonderful world woohoorld<em>

Her eyes widened at the love word in the song, but quickly dismissed it. She wanted to hear and enjoy the song to the fullest.

_Someday I'll wish upon a star,_  
><em>Wake up where the clouds are far behind me<em>  
><em>Where trouble melts like lemon drops<em>  
><em>High above the chimney top that's where you'll find me<em>  
><em>Oh, Somewhere over the rainbow way up high<em>  
><em>And the dream that you dare to, why, oh why can't I? I hiii ?<em>

After the song ended, her eyes watered up as soon as she saw a phrase appear on the small omni tool screen.

"Dedicated to Dark_JewelQ and all of her dreams…

By JS_Badass53."

She smiled while crying. Daro'Xen vas Moreh was going to achieve her dreams, one way or the other, as in the afterlife, a powerful god of war was watching over her. He may not be an ancestor, but sure as hell he was a guardian angel, fierce against those that dared threaten her ambitious plans.

* * *

><p>Shepard's Death plus Two Years<p>

Admiral Daro'Xen vas Moreh was now in her own office, overlooking the continuous influx of old ships into the flotilla. She shook her head, watching from her window as a very damaged ship made it to her vessel's dock. It had one of its engines destroyed and the other barely worked. This was going to end, she was going to end this sad and dark chapter of her people, pulling them into anew.

"Ma'am, the ship is good, we can get a scout one out of it." Her subordinate said, who was at her right, looking at the ship in question.

She looked at him. "Just go do your job, strip the ship of good parts and get rid of the rest, don't want that thrash in my vessel."

The quarian nodded somberly. "Yes… ma'am." Just after he finished the sentence, he was already walking away, much to her pleasure. She wanted to be alone and think.

Rael was busy fiddling on his own toy ship, the Alarei, playing around with geth parts. Xen knew it, Han knew it, every single one in the top circles knew it. It was a secret though. Hah! Yeah and then the batarians would stop enslaving people. Daro was not happy to be on the sidelines. If it wasn't for stupid Zaal and his constant ranting, she would be having good conversations with the other admirals, gaining some nice points in their books. Not that it mattered anyway, political maneuvering did not work with hard, military men like Han'Gerrel and Rael'Zorah. Zaal was a…. _'What was John's phrase for him? Oh yes…_ retard, a blow hard apologetic retard.

Tali'Zorah had been doing extremely good since her arrival from her pilgrimage. That was why the data was kind of helping Rael on his research. The quarian child was now leading platoons and being the prime example of a great warrior. Daro huffed and shook her head. She was not capable of having light casualties in any engagement, her leadership skills being a complete liability. It did not matter to Daro as long as the quarian igaj kept her distance.

After several minutes of staring at the window, she was then slightly startled by a quarian in the corner of the room, her whispers to her husband really loud…

"Did you hear? Tali is back with Veetor from Freedom's Progress." She said.

The male laughed. "Yeah, and with a lot of casualties, only three came back. That girl needs some leadership classes from her father."

Daro laughed at that. _'Concur with that…'_

"Yeah, and then she said that her old commander is back…."

The quarian admiral's eyes widened and shot the female, who was less than ten meters from her, a glare.

"Did I hear you correctly? Shepard is back?" Daro asked the female, who looked afraid of her superior.

The male shifted nervously. "Ah yes ma'am, she claims he was resurrected by Cerberus, that bosh'tet human racist organization."

Within seconds, Daro was already rushing to the old docks of her ship, leaving two quarians startled behind. She was setting up a meeting with Tali'Zorah and sending a message to Rael on her way to probably either get the biggest disappointment in her life or something really, really… interesting.

* * *

><p>After forty minutes of going from her ship to the Neema on her private shuttle, Daro made her way through the crowds of people into Tali's small room. She was… nervous. Maybe this was all a lie. If it was, she was going to have that quarian child's head on a stick.<p>

"Tali'Zorah, this is Admiral Daro, open the door." She said coldly.

In a matter of seconds, the door opened. As she stepped in, she saw a quarian female, in a purple suit glaring at her.

"What is your business with me Admiral?" She was being defensive. The old wounds from Daro's accusations two years ago still fresh in her mind.

The admiral just stood there, like a soldier. "Where is John?"

"What do you mean John?" Tali was messing with her, she had to be.

Daro's anger boiled. "Don't toy with me girl. Tell me about what happened on Freedom's Progress." The tone in her voice was really cold.

"That is information I cannot give to you."

The older female curled her fists in anger but kept her composure. An action like this would surely ruin her chances of becoming the head of the admiralty board once the other two hard headed military bosh'tets were out of the way.

"I have some things for you though." Tali smirked beneath her mask and fiddled with her omni tool. "You will be in charge of forwarding Cerberus the results of Veetor's scans in the colony, orders from father."

"Fine." Daro relented. "But don't expect me to drop the subject, you saw Shepard alive?" She asked, getting Tali into an uncomfortable stance. "Answer me child!"

"What's in to you? Do you love him Admiral?" Tali's question lingered in the air for a few seconds, until Daro regained her composure.

"Listen child, you tell me now or I will have you grounded from more missions in the future, your father may be the head of the board but votes count, MY vote counts."

Tali sighed in defeat. "He is alive; he was resurrected by Cerberus less than a few hours ago. Don't evade my question, why are you so into him?"

'_Bosh'tet is being territorial.' _"Because he… was, no, is my best friend and I want to know of his whereabouts, none of your concern anyway. Your only concern should be to stop getting so many soldiers killed."

Silence….

"He would never get involved with you." The younger quarian said, barely above a whisper.

Daro's eyes narrowed. "Why would he get involved with you on the other hand? You could not save him last time he died."

"Watch it Admiral…" Tali's voice was hard, dangerous.

"We shall see in the near future, but for now, focus on your assignments and stop failing as a leader." And then the admiral turned around and walked away, leaving a furious quarian woman in her wake.

* * *

><p>Rael's orders were legit. She was now tasked with talking to Cerberus. Honestly, the quarian admiral was looking forward to it, she was going to talk with the individuals that raised her John back from the dead. Even though Cerberus was nothing more than another enemy in her mind, they were extremely capable, scientifically speaking.<p>

Activating the quantum projector on her ship, produced thanks largely to John's five million credits for her, she quietly awaited for the Cerberus goon to show his or her face. After a few seconds, her eyes set on a man sitting on a chair, with very expensive looking clothes, smoking a cigarette.

"Ah, you must have the results from Veetor." The human spoke, taking a sip of his drink.

Daro just looked straight, not even blinking. "Yes, I do." She replied coldly.

"Excellent." He then got up and took a good look at her. "Admiral Xen, a pleasure to finally meet you."

Her eyes narrowed. "How do you know my name?"

"Information is power…" He said dismissively. "Now, Daro, before we get into the results… are you interested in the geth?"

She folded her arms into her chest, her voice cold. "What's in to you? And who the hell are you?"

The human laughed. "What is into me is that everything goes according to plan. Call me… TIM."

"Okay… _TIM_, but what do you want from me?" She was severely preoccupied and troubled with this man. He knew an awful lot about her, so there was something here awfully wrong. She had to keep her composure though, remain as cold and disciplined as ever.

"Cooperation." He replied, looking at her eyes. "Cooperation to bring them into your race's hands and fight the greatest threat in the galaxy."

She had to put some resistance. "Ah you mean the Reapers? Didn't Velarn and his other two goons already dismiss the claim?"

"Yes, but they are political short sighted fools." _'Hah, couldn't be any more right about that.'_

She then played with her omni tool and passed the information to the address that was sent to her by the man in the hologram.

"There is your information." She said coldly. "And now, what was… your proposal?"

He smiled and sat on his chair again, his cigarette being extinguished on an ashtray as he did. "Resources, credits in exchange of your expertise in that certain subject…"

"Hmmm…" She hummed as she thought about it. "Do I get information of how Shepard was revived by your organization?"

He shook his head. "I am afraid those records were lost, the station was destroyed… pity." The man smiled. "But how about you working on one of our projects all the way from where you are?"

"What is this project called?" She asked cautiously.

"Project Overlord."

* * *

><p><strong>Hope you liked this chapter. I am debating whether to expand this story into a full one or keep it short and later on have a sequel. You guys tell me what you think.<strong>

**Igaj = Power hungry whore.**


	6. Chapter 6

**I apologize for the lyrics, some of you did not like it but I felt it would add more drama into the story. Still, in the future, you will not see that again, except for maybe a line or two, depends, but not a whole paragraph, much less the song. Thanks for the reviews peeps.**

**Forward!**

* * *

><p>He was…. mad, mad and outraged. Being revived by one of your worst enemies was probably one of the biggest ironic "screw you" variables in the galaxy. Shepard could see the hostility that lingered in the air each time he talked to Miranda or Jacob, or even by just standing in the same room with them. In combat, this would make his squad completely ineffective and easy prey to disorganization. Good thing Garrus, his best friend and partner in crime, was now with him, calibrating…<p>

Lieutenant Jacob Taylor, a seasoned veteran and "valuable" asset to the cause, those were TIM's words after Shepard talked to him before Freedom's Progress. John laughed at that. Jacob was good, but nowhere near other operatives or elite soldiers he had seen or fought with. His biotic abilities were questionable, and so were his loyalties. Despite being a good naval officer and caretaker of weapons, Shepard could not help but doubt the Cerberus Operative's skills. He had yet to see more of them, but as of now, he was discouraged of taking that soldier to the front lines.

On the other hand, there was Miranda. Extremely good operative, yes, and excellent leadership skills, Shepard could not deny that, very intelligent, useful and a jack of all trades in an elite squad. However, the pros, or advantages of using her, stopped there. She was the main channel between Cerberus and the ship. Yes, the ship was full of paintings and logos of the shadowy organization, so everyone knew who they were with, but Shepard had a lot of distrust of his XO, who was the one communicating with TIM. Her combat skills were admirable, but her loyalty was highly questionable, much more so than Taylor's.

Now, the Illusive Man. He was a bloody genius. Shepard could not take that from him. A very wealthy and powerful man, TIM, as Shepard nicknamed him from the start, was probably the brightest, most brutal and richest man behind everything Cerberus did. Sure, he was brutal, yet his tactics worked. Yet, Shepard, being himself a military officer, was completely against sacrificing civilians, no matter what race, unless there was no choice. This leader of Cerberus also had lungs of steel. John saw him smoking a pack of cigarettes each time he talked they talked.

Pondering on his thoughts, Shepard was playing with a bullet in his fingers. It dated back to the 20th century, used for hunting. It was a 22-250 bullet, small, fast and incredibly potent, belonging to the long defunct Remington Firearms. Now with mass accelerator weapons, these were long forgotten, that is why it was so special. It was also a gift from his father when John graduated from high school.

"Commander, you have received a new message on your private terminal." EDI chimed in with her monotone, yet somewhat human voice.

He groaned and shook his head. "I perfectly said for all messages to be on my omni tool, not all the way over there damn AI, are you deaf?"

The Normandy artificial intelligence replied, "Yes Shepard, we are doing that as we speak, all messages will now go straight to your omni tool."

"Good, now leave me alone, I need to rest. Recruiting the dumbass of Garrus and the never shut up parrot of Mordin was tiring." He said in a cold voice.

"Logging you out Shepard." EDI finished and her orb disappeared.

'_Finally, about time…' _John thought as he laid down on bed again and his brain began bombarding his mind. He was now the commanding officer of the most advanced ship in space again. Although built by Cerberus, he could not help but admire their incredible engineering capabilities. The only ones capable of giving the anti alien organization a middle finger in ship engineering were the quarians…

'_Quarians…. D.. DARO!' _Crap, he forgot to send her a message. He thought of Tali and Daro in Freedom's Progress, but stupid Cerberus kept him busy with the damn dossiers and datapads.

He went to his omni tool, scrolled down and found her name. Quickly, he began typing and sent the message, ignorant of what had happened to her in the two full years he had been absent in her life.

As far as he was concerned, it had only been a few days, hell maybe a week at the most. He felt as if he went to sleep and just woke up after a long nap.

"EDI, turn the lights off, I am going to sleepy land."

And as he ordered, the lights were off.

* * *

><p>"Sir, there is something very strange with his constant communication with the Migrant Fleet, I am afraid he is too focused on a quarian, more so than the mission." Miranda stated, her eyes cold and calculating, looking at her boss, the Illusive Man, TIM…<p>

The powerful tycoon simply took a drag from his cigarette. "Fair point, but as long as he keeps getting results, and these are very impressive, then don't mess with him. You know perfectly that there is a lot of friction between the both of you."

She stared back and replied, "There is, but he will answer to me about this-"

"Lawson." His voice held command. "Don't test him. I will not tolerate infighting with the barbarians are our very doorstep."

Miranda sighed. "Yes sir." She relented.

The male nodded. "Good, you are dismissed."

Those words ended the communication, leaving the richest human to his own thoughts. Miranda was kind of right, but TIM knew that Shepard was doing an amazing job. He had already recruited Garrus and Mordin, who were now his standard squad, as he did not trust neither Miranda nor Jacob. It was understandable, as long as he was getting results, TIM was happy.

He then took a sip of his whiskey and looked into the windows, a blue star raging. The Illusive Man had all cards up his sleeve now; it was just a matter of time. Daro was now an ally, and her possible relationship with John Shepard would further persuade the former N7 Commando into joining Cerberus and embracing its ideals. Having the commander in his ranks would further increase Cerberus' power tenfold. Now the numerous companies and backers would not only continue to support Cerberus, but also invite others… Shepard's was a poster boy for the Alliance, so why not for his organization?

The geth question was close to be answered, thanks to a certain quarian and his private team. His other elite teams were scattered, all looking into evidence or finding new weapons to counter the incoming Reaper invasion. The geth needed to be controlled and used as specialized or vast armies, high quality cannon fodder. The krogan, under Shepard's sphere of influence thanks to being led by his great friend Wrex, will also be incredibly important as shock troopers. Certainly, thanks to Shepard, TIM was getting a lot more resources and variables for the coming conflict. John Shepard, Lion of Elysium, Justice Avenger and destroyer of Reapers, had indirectly served Cerberus ever since he became famous. Even though, he destroyed several bases of the human racist organization, he was now with them, and the chances of wiping out the Collectors were now much higher than before.

TIM smiled as he took another drag from his cigarette. "Now it all begins…"

* * *

><p>A good feeling raced through Daro's body. She was now fully backed by Cerberus on her aims to control the geth. It was a choice that had taken a few minutes for her to decide. That Illusive Man did keep the bargain after all. Her credits had nearly doubled. Instead of Cerberus directly sending the Migrant Fleet supplies, which would utterly rain fire on her ass, they instead acted on intermediaries. There were a few groups that "supported" the quarian race, but it was all to save face. Most of them were asari and human, sending them constant gifts to avoid them going to their systems.<p>

TIM used that to fully equip Daro with the best of the best. The Migrant Fleet officers expected second hand equipment or salvage, but they received really good items. Some of them were sent to different ships, but Cerberus had some insiders among the quarians. The Moreh would get the supplies and equipment to begin the experiments and research.

The quarian admiral was impressed with the human organization. Their level of sophistication was something out of this galaxy. Of course, their most incredible achievement was reviving John. She could not be more grateful from them. She got her best friend and the necessary supplies to get her plans into full motion. Rael was acting on geth parts sent by Tali'Zorah, her daughter. Daro could not help but laugh at him.

'_I get the best thanks to my friend.'_ In the end, her aims were still the same, and her promise to Shepard was still in her mind. She had to contact him though; she had to know how he was doing. There were some thoughts that shook her very being. Daro, now an admiral and powerful leader amongst her people, had begun to slowly fall for a human… She was incredibly conflicted.

Numerous suitors had been rejected by her, all the way from when she met Shepard until a few months earlier. All of them were sons of high ranking government officials and military officers. A part of her resented her constant rejections, leaving considerable power and influence behind, but the biggest trophy and price was someone else. The most powerful and intelligent leader, this fearsome soldier was now her prime objective. He was just… the greatest one.

John Shepard had caught her eye ever since she met him. However, in the beginning it was just curiosity that led her to talk to him more. This led to a friendship that was born thanks to the extranet. Their numerous chats and games began to slowly warm her heart out. In addition, his achievements and fame could also be some of the facts that drove her, a powerful woman, closer to a powerful man.

The message he had done for her before his death was the one that truly opened her eyes and heart though. Her brain could not process it, but it was to no avail. She knew it, her heart knew it too. She had fallen for humanity's golden boy. The greatest military mind and most powerful soldier the humans ever produced in space.

Still, there was a part of her brain who constantly analyzed the outcomes of what would be beneficial should a relationship with Shepard could blossom. Power, influence, galaxy wide fame and attention, those were the key factors she needed in order to pursue her goals. No quarian male could provide them. They were just too weak willed. John was her equal, though. He had an intelligence coefficient of over one hundred and forty five. His report cards and grades showed it.

She had hacked into his records in the military. All officers, all personnel, everyone said the same things, put the same things on paper. Tactical and strategic genius, prime leader qualities, powerful biotic, incredible marksman, great hand to hand combat specialist, those were some of his few qualities. That is why he was immediately spotted and recruited by the N7 Commandos.

Daro laughed as she remembered some of the last rumors that had been going around the fleet. Some were claiming that she was a lesbian, because she would refuse every man's advances coldly. If only they knew… if only they could grasp at what she was planning, they would all understand and be in awe. She was going for the greatest prize in the galaxy.

Her onmi tool shook her out of those thoughts. She was at her office, signing datapads and properly administrating the resources for her crew. As captain of the Moreh, she had great responsibilities, but that did not mean she had to stay all the time there.

Checking her messages, she smiled.

"_Not even death could hold me, that is how badass I am! Sorry for not having messaged you, but these days have been chaotic. I am with a shadowy organization now; I will give you full details once I have the proper time and strength because today was really tiring. I will be expecting your message, and I hope you are doing well. I also want a full report of how my best friend has been doing for the past… two years… sorry, but for me it's been less than a few days… hard to get used to it._

_Yours,_

_JS_Badass53."_

"Oh John, you will be proud." She grinned as she began to reply to the message, her mind drifting away from the office and duties of a captain in the Migrant Fleet.

* * *

><p>Upset, she was extremely upset. How dare she say something like that to her? Bosh'tet! After all the sacrifices and dangerous places she went through, that admiral just had to make her mad. It was as if Daro was created to torment Tali for the rest of her days.<p>

Tali was leaning against a bulkhead, her body relaxed, enjoying the break from the constant cleaning and regulation of engines in the Neema. Of course, relaxed her body was, but her brain was just coming up with constant thoughts.

That admiral bosh'tet was after him, she had to. Calling Shepard by his first name was a privilege, it was something that meant close. That infuriated Tali to the core. She could not help but feel extremely territorial. Shepard was her turf; she had been after him ever since they met, ever since he saved her from those damn assassins.

Yet Daro was interfering. Tali knew they had met way before she even knew of John Shepard. She was barely fourteen at the time. Still, Shepard was a man of conviction, a good officer and great friend, not an ambitious, vile and evil bosh'tet like the female admiral scientist.

She was devastated when he died, and even more when she heard his last gasps just before dying. Tali cried herself to sleep for months. She was constantly depressed and never in the mood to laugh or even give a weak smile. Daro, however, just made it a lot worse. When she accused her of letting Shepard die, Tali descended into a deep depression that even scared her father, so much that he sent her to the best doctors and psychologists of the fleet. All telling her to let it go, to just go forth in life and forget about him.

How could she though? How could she forget about the man that she had a huge crush on? She just steeled herself for her sake and tried to move on, and she did after a year. Then, he was revived by Cerberus, first good action since those retards were created. She was so happy, so full of life when he, once again, saved her life. He was responsible for the three females surviving the massacre by the giant YMIR mech. Veetor was returned to the fleet thanks to him. He was the same man, the same cocky soldier and friend who always kept everyone's spirits high and rushed forward into battle.

The feelings returned with full force, and she had just seen his eyes for less than a second. The bad part was that Daro was moving, and Tali needed to put up her own defense of her man. Shepard had rejected the advances of Ashley and Liara for a reason, and the young quarian female thought that this was a good sign for the future. Ashley was a beautiful woman, and so was Liara, and he had rejected them both… both! There had to be a reason, and she knew he was not gay, not after catching him watching quarian female pictures on the extranet, courtesy of Garrus Vakarian.

"Tali, your turn is up." Someone said to her.

She turned and saw her friend, Kardia. "Oh okay, thank you."

Kardia's eyes were full of amusement. "Thinking about your pilgrimage captain eh? Can't blame you, he is very hot."

"Kardia…" Tali warned, but there was a hint of playfulness in her voice.

The other female laughed. "Okay, okay Tali, whatever you say."

Tali shook her head in amusement and went to her terminal, beginning another set of scans to see if the engines were working properly.

'_Wherever you are Shepard, know that I will protect you from that bosh'tet of an admiral… You will not fall into her damn claws!'_

* * *

><p>Hoped you enjoyed this chapter, it was meant to be a little calm before the storm fully comes in. Yes, you can see the friction between the said admiral and Tali, so be prepared for some… stuff in the future. Also, I wanted to make Shepard analytical and critical of his new squad, and the first two are Cerberus, so yeah. Like always, a pleasure. R&amp;R!<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks for the reviews guys, keep them coming, Daro needs them! She must get the attention she deserves :P Also feel free to vote on the poll in my profile page.**

**Onward!**

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><p>"Commander, the best option we have right now is to recruit Subject Zero, the powerful biotic abilities will come in handy in our fight against the collector threat." Miranda was having a hard time with Commander John Arthur Shepard, Lion of Elysium, "The Warlord" as Wrex had dubbed him.<p>

Shepard took a step forward, eyeing the Cerberus agent with cold, calculating eyes. "Since when are you in charge Miss Lawson?"

Miranda's eyes narrowed. "I am just giving you a round of the best choices we have for the recruitment of the dossiers the Illusive Man has put for us."

"Let us get something straight Lawson." Shepard eyed her with hidden fury in his eyes. "I am in charge, I do whatever the fuck I want, I am the one capable of strategy and tactical matters here. You do NOT order me around." He then got up and walked away slowly from Miranda's office, not before adding before he got out. "Any funny business and your pretty ass will be tossed out of my ship."

Furious yet calm, Miranda got up. "This mission needs us to be understanding with each other, that is why.."

He interrupted her by turning around and showing her his hands, full of raw biotic power. "I don't give a shit about your understanding or diplomacy, you heard me, you fuck with me and you will wish you were never born."

The commander then walked away, a grin on his face as he left the supposedly awesome Cerberus agent furious and mad in her own room, probably sending daggers at him with her eyes. _'Serves you right bitch.'_

He could not trust Cerberus, not even with the ship and supplies provided. They were an enemy to be used. Shepard remembered one of the many phrases of the great and wise Sun Tzu. _'Divide and conquer…'_

If the collectors and Cerberus fought each other to submission, there would be no more terrorist organization or Reaper servants in the galaxy. He chuckled quietly as he imagined TIM and Miranda burning in a sun. _'It is free to dream after all…'_

Shepard saw firsthand the crimes that Cerberus committed on his pursuit for Saren. He was the one that ordered the execution of several agents of the shadowy organization without trial. John, being a human, did support several plans for human expansion but at the cost of so many lives? Sure, he was an ass from time to time, but he was a man of honor. Saren was a lesson for him. He did not want to become like that… creature.

Walking into his quarters, he looked at the small picture in his desk. There was a female, in a black enviro suit, looking at him intently. A quarian, the picture was a little blurry, but it was the only reminder of that great friend… all those years back.

He got the picture out of nowhere. John was so high he was literally licking clouds and tasting rain with his tongue. It was fuzzy, but he remembered hitting on Daro a lot. She was cold, cautious but funny and somewhat warm… his perfect formula.

In truth, he had developed a great passion in finding more about quarians after meeting her. Researching nonstop in his free time, he learned about the geth, the war and subsequent exile of the quarian race. He could not help but rage at the council for being such egotistical bastards.

Thinking about it, he was sure the council was more than comfortable with the exclusion of the quarians as a power. They were probably vying for a seat, with their exceptional technology and credits as a united, powerful race. _'Those retards probably did it on purpose; they simply did not want to share.'_

Regretting his decision on saving the biggest idiots in the galaxy, John walked to his personal desk, got a scotch whiskey bottle and served himself a glass. Looking at his bed, he noticed his pack of cigarettes, calling on to him. He shrugged; having new lungs was a huge advantage for a passive smoker like him. John only smoked in parties or special occasions, so he pulled a cigarette from the box and lit it with a lighter in his pocket.

"Commander." That annoying monotone voice came. "You should not smoke; it is incredibly harmful for your body."

Shepard growled. "Don't you have a damn mute button?"

A blue orb surfaced at the far corner of his room, close to the elevator. "No, I don't Commander."

"Well, then shut the hell up and let me do whatever I want, so piss off."

"Logging you out Shepard."

He grinned at his victory over that damn AI and took a puff out of his cigarette, thinking of the next mission, the recruitment of Warlord Okeer.

* * *

><p>Regarding Rael and the other admirals, she knew that it was only a matter of time before she could finally claim complete power over the board. However, apart from Rael, there was Raan. Very intelligent and open minded, Shala was a force to be reckoned with. Daro had only talked to her a couple of times, but developed a great respect for the much older woman. She was smart enough to not fall into the petty and annoying antics between Han, the warmonger, and Zaal, the uptight apologist.<p>

Daro knew she was getting the voted necessary for the ultimate offensive. With the support of many quarians, John and even Cerberus, no one would be able to stop her, not even Raan or Rael. The other good thing on her mind was that Tali was sent on a suicide mission to geth space. It was a waste of time and resources… to go and get data from a dying star. Of course, she was curious about the sun's extremely interesting behavior, but to send a team of marines and scientists to see what was going on? In geth space of all places? Waste of time, waste of resources, waste of life, wasted potential, could even spark a war that would end up with her race dead.

'_Looks like their brains fried with so much thinking…. low capacity it seems.' _She chuckled quietly to herself. Right now, she was resting on her private quarters after the approval of Tali's mission and subsequent discussion thereafter. Rael was cold… sending his own daughter to imminent death, not even Daro could see the benefit to him for doing so. She did not wish Tali any harm, as that quarian girl kept spirits and morale up in the fleet.

Of all things, Shepard was in her mind the most. He had already recruited some of the most dangerous people in the galaxy, and all followed him like puppies with their master. She smirked. John was a supernatural force of nature, there was nothing that could stop him. He was either tearing entire merc squads apart or slaying krogan battlemasters like if it was a common sport, not to mention scores of geth. Dangerous game he called it once, referring to the old human hunting traditions back on earth.

Under those thoughts, there was also another. She wanted... no, she craved to see him. Her eyes wanted to see the man who was on her thoughts every single day. Her body ached every single time she thought about him. Nerve stimulators were a waste of time, waste of resources, she wanted it personal, up close, but sometimes desperate times required desperate measures. One could describe it as lust, and maybe it was, but it was so strong. Her thoughts wavered sometimes, during meetings, small talk with other officers or even in the simplest of tasks. John had turned her life upside down, and she loved it.

"I will see you soon John, very soon." She said softly to herself as the lights on her room turned off, not before a hissing sound came in, along with a moan…

* * *

><p>Garrus Vakarian was a little happier now. Shepard had given him a viper sniper rifle as a gift after the Omega escape. The turian was used to this now. He already knew of human traditions regarding gifts to close friends and loved ones. John, being the smart guy he had always been, formed his own elite squad within the Normandy. Garrus, Mordin, Zaeed, Grunt and Kasumi now formed part of Shepard's "Praetorian Guard."<p>

John was very distrustful of Cerberus. Garrus saw it after his violent outburst with Miranda regarding who to recruit first. The first thing the turian did was to buy his best friend a bottle in the Citadel. Shepard was not a paranoid man, he was just smart. The turian and his friend had discussed possible contingency plans should a serious altercation with Cerberus could occur. Even then, Jacob was getting along much better now with John, yet there was still a lot of caution from Shepard. He was in the squad to recruit Okeer, which resulted in a complete victory, epic destruction of countless mercs and the successful recruitment of Grunt, well he was still in the tank.

Miranda, on the other hand, was still the same cold hearted woman. She was constantly trying to gain the Commander's respect by telling him to put her on the squad in the next missions. He ignored her each and every time. Garrus could not blame Shepard in the slightest, not after he heard of her being the direct channel between the ship and the Illusive Man itself. Yet, there were some… very interesting concepts regarding that woman.

Numerous times, Garrus caught her watching the Commander, eyeing him from head to toe, scanning hungrily with her deep, icy blue eyes. If it was what he thought, then it made him sick. It looked she wanted approval by either having Shepard seduced or… He shook his head, the algorithms messing up in the screen for like the fourth time. The turian sighed and turned around, seeing no one there in the room.

He then got a memory of Tali doing the same hungry scans on the Commander. It was so obvious, yet Shepard was never paying attention, always doing something else or drooling, lost in his thoughts. Garrus was incredibly fond of those times, where he would tease Tali about it and then tease Shepard about both Liara and Ashley. Those were great times, the good old times.

Right now, they were on their way to recruit the most powerful human biotic, a guy named Jack. He sounded like a badass, so they had to go check it out, see if they could find this man and bring him into action against the damn Collectors.

"Just like old times." Garrus smiled as he saw his new sniper rifle on the floor, alongside a picture of him, Shepard and Wrex, pissed drunk, at the Flux. Shepard was in the middle, a goofy smile on his face. Wrex, of course, was wearing his usual "don't piss me off" face on the right of Shepard but, if you could look at it carefully, there was a grin. Now the turian was at the commander's left, his mandibles showing off a smirk while holding with his left hand John's back. They got so drunk they had to be escorted by both Tali and Liara to the Normandy.

Garrus laughed softly as the calibration's room sounds echoed around, giving him an everlasting feeling of piece in his life after two years of hell.

Shepard rubbed his nose in exasperation as Miranda continued to rant about the consequences of not having her in the missions.

"I am a powerful biotic Shepard, with a lot of intellect in strategy and tactics, along with great handling of light weapons." She was pacing her office. "I understand your distrust, but we are all on the same side, you just need to understand that we need to put differences aside to continue pushing for our common goal, the destruction of the Collectors."

The commander had been calmly listening to her, his eyes cold, looking into her eyes as if looking for something. Finally, he just stood up and walked to the door. "Don't forget your equipment for the next mission."

She smiled and nodded, clearly happy at the sudden turn of events.

"You won't be disappointed." She stated firmly, a smile on her face as she did so.

He turned and smirked. "And that is what I am worried about." _'We shall see about that.' _He certainly did not trust her in the slightest, but he had to play nice... for now. There was no other way. She was the XO, but maybe if she got into an accident... he shook his head, but the grin on his face really said it all. Shepard was in the mood for some banter, so he made up his mind about the place next to hit on his list.

John then left, feeling her eyes set on him, but this time it felt creepier. He accelerated his pace and turned to his left, going to the best place right now, the forward batteries. Having a few drinks with his best friend would surely calm his nerves from his almost total nerve breakdown while listening to Miranda rant and rant about the same crap over and over.

As the doors hissed, opening, Shepard saw his old friend sitting on a box, a grin on his face as soon as his head turned.

"Glad to see you here pal." Garrus stated.

Shepard nodded. "I need a beer."

The turian chuckled and stood up, inside the box he was sitting on contained several twenty fours of dextro and amino beer.

"Bad day?" Archangel asked.

The human shook his head. "I swear, this is worse than watching Blasto Meets Barney."

Garrus laughed out loud. "Damn, I can imagine, you really are having a shitty day."

"Miranda wants in on the team, so she will be with you and me on Purgatory."

The turian nodded. "You mind if I accidentally shoot her in the head? Note the word accidentally." He asked with a smirk.

Shepard laughed really hard. "I would certainly report it as a tragic accident to the Illusive Man, don't think the smartass would buy it though."

"Well, at least we are together on this crap." The turian drank and nodded to himself, savoring his beer in the insides of his throat.

"To hell and back again, by Garrus Vakarian and John Shepard, we should write a book you know?" Shepard chuckled.

The turian just smiled. "Beats being surrounded by terrorists."

Garrus and Shepard were certainly best friends. They trusted each other like family and always watched the back of one another. The human was overprotective of the turian, the same with the turian on the human. They simply wanted what was best for each other, and right now the best was some banter and a good time before hitting the relay and dealing with mercs.

* * *

><p>She shook her head. This was going to be a tough mission. Well, according to everyone, it was going to be suicide. Geth space, a dying star, second hand equipment, lack of experience, these were some of the factors that had been laying around Tali's head for hours. She was now resting before the storm. She and her crew were close to get to Haestrom, and she did not like it at all.<p>

Of course, the other part that she did like was that, even though it was a small scout ship, there was privacy for her, being the one in charge of this mission. In her small yet comfy quarters, she was activating her nerve stimulator, having wild thoughts and dreams about Shepard, who was now probably fighting his way through krogan, mercs or collectors… or all of the above. He was that tough.

The female admiral after Shepard was also on her mind. It brought to her stomach sick feelings. She was not going to let her get close to John, no matter what. No matter what happened on this goddamn mission, she was going to stay alive and find Shepard again, join him and save the galaxy again. She was aching to see him, and she wanted to tell him about her… feelings for him, but Daro was becoming a big stone on her way, so she had to get the "explosives" to blow it out of her road.

"In time… in time I will." She said softly to herself as she descended into one of the best sleeps of her life, dreaming about her and John engaged in some activities that do not require name but sure as hell get you in sweat…

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><p><strong>Here is hoping you guys liked this. It was easy to write, somewhat, but I wanted to make it as realistic as possible. Thanks for reading, and don't forget, yes I am talking to you, review! Tell me what you think!<strong>

**A reminder, I put up a poll on my profile page, vote. The poll will be closed next Thursday.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Here you go guys! Another chapter! If you want me to continue this and make it a long series, you have the reviews section to give your own opinion! Onward!**

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><p>Well, this went better that expected. Shepard was relieved that Jack was against Cerberus, and could not help but chuckle at her lashing towards Miranda. Feigning neutrality, John dissolved their argument before it could escalate. In addition, he destroyed the Blue Sun's station, taking the vast majority of them in the explosion, along with the prisoners.<p>

It was scum that deserved more than death, fast way to get away with it. Shepard, being firmly against death penalty, continuously voiced his opinion regarding criminals, saying that death penalty was not only inefficient but also stupid. Instead of letting the criminals rot in jail, they were given the opportunity to escape that suffering. So much for being good towards them…

The surprise of Jack being a female sent shockwaves through both Garrus and himself. They were both expecting a tough looking, buff guy, not a heavily tattooed, fragile looking woman, but they were impressed when she destroyed several YMIR Mechs, with ease.

Smoking a cigarette in the cargo hold to avoid the annoying EDI on his cabin, his thoughts were once again on his crew, an evaluation of each and every one of them.

Garrus, the turian sniper and best friend of his, did not need any assessment. The turian was simply one of the best soldiers Shepard had the honor to fight with. A tactical genius and supremely loyal friend, "Archangel" was simply his best comrade in the whole galaxy. Although he did not have the tactical and strategic skills Shepard did, he was still strong in his own right. However, there was an issue. The death of his squad had implanted something on his mind, Shepard could feel it. Maybe post traumatic stress disorder? Guilt? He could not be sure, but it was an issue that needed to be fixed before they could take the fight to the Collectors.

Now, Grunt… a tank, a powerful warrior, eager for destruction. Shepard liked him, he really did. The krogan had the skills he needed for a mixed squad of biotics, tech specialists and soldiers. His gun ho attitude in the battle field made Shepard smile. It was not very noticeable, but Grunt saw him as a father of sorts, since the crazy ass scientist of Okeer could not properly "educate" him. John felt this krogan could be very handy in the war with the Collectors. His loyalty was questionable, but it could be fixed. Shepard was highly educated in krogan psychology, all thanks to some lessons in the N7 Academy and Wrex himself. Showing him in the battle field who was boss would make Grunt follow him like a puppy in need of a parent… and it was already happening.

On the other hand, he had Mordin Solus, one of the greatest scientific minds in the galaxy, surely. This doctor and former STG agent was simply outstanding. Very versatile, capable and intelligent, Shepard had no worries about him. His combat skills were good, but not on the level of his and Garrus' as an example. Despite that, this doctor was the key to defeat the Collectors and could very well influence other species in terms of his work. John was shocked when he saw a manual of Quarian – Human relations, which he stole from the good ol'doctor. He was going to read it later on, but damn, this Solus was good, and so was his loyalty, as he also had mixed feelings regarding Cerberus. More points for Shepard there…

John then thought of his newest addition, a versatile mercenary named Zaeed Massani. Shepard was cool with him, as long as he could help in the mission. However, his loyalty was dubious. Loyalty to money was simply not good, not good enough. Shepard needed to have this guy join the cause and fight not for money, but for the sake of the galaxy. It was in the history books. When a man was fighting for money, he could be inefficient in the battle field. Sure, there were some great mercenaries, but their loyalty was highly questionable. Instead, if you had a man fight for his home, for his family, for his country, you had a very powerful warrior. Zaeed was good, but these problems needed to be addressed immediately should problems arise in the future.

Now shit was getting serious. No more stupid mercs or bases to raid, now it was an attack against the Collectors themselves, defend Horizon from their military might. This was a very hard task that needed the best of the best. Shepard had already chosen his squad, but then made some changes. In the end, he chose Garrus, his partner in crime, Grunt, his protégé, and Miranda, hoping she could be wounded to stop being so damn annoying.

He had here some tech expertise, a pure soldier, a flexible biotic and himself, a vanguard. Jack was left out of the roster due to the possibility of hindering the mission with the high tensions between her and Miranda. Jacob was just… he felt bad, but he thought Jacob was useless. After a careful examination, the former Alliance marine was a very simple soldier. Poor biotic powers, dubious loyalty and lack of expertise with other weapons. Zaeed needed a careful examination from Kelly so that Shepard could have the thumps up to give him service, he was not paying the man anyway, it was Cerberus after all. Mordin was busy with the lab, so he was left out as soon as the scientist himself said that.

Shepard was startled with some noise not too far ahead of him. He turned his head towards the elevator and saw Garrus walking towards his position, right where the Kodiak shuttle was. The former spectre smirked.

"Thought you would be here." The turian said as he got a pack of cigarettes from his pocket in the armor.

Shepard chuckled. "Guess Archangel knows my moves."

"Oh yes." Garrus laughed as he lit a cigarette. "Of course, you are eerily predictable."

As soon as both men were close enough, they began to talk about the current situation, the crew and Horizon. Garrus was excited and anxious to fight some Collectors. A topic then surfaced.

"Shepard, remember that time where me, you, Tali and Wrex were talking by the mako?"

John nodded as he took a drag from his cigarette. "Yeah, what about it?"

"You said something about a woman you met way before you became an N7 commando." The turian took a drag. "A quarian in Caleston?"

"Ah yeah." He nodded at his turian friend. "Met her when she and her crew were attacked by blinks."

Garrus nodded and simply stared at the Kodiak, lost in thoughts, which Shepard found amusing.

"Kodiak looks good or what Mr. Womanizer?" John teased.

The sniper chuckled. "Just having these thoughts of you liking this quarian."

At those words, Shepard coughed, smoke coming in bits out of his mouth. "Beg your pardon?"

"You like her don't you? I mean, you tend to get lost with that omni tool of yours…" Garrus smirked at his friend's expense.

John just looked at him. "What makes you say that?" He narrowed his eyes. "I never talk about her…"

"Oh yeah?" The turian laughed. "Says the guy who was ranting about quarians having excellent hips in the bar and human females not even close to them. Ashley was pretty pissed off."

Garrus then saw his best friend's cheeks turning slightly red, making him chuckle loudly. "Ah Shepard…" He shook his head. "Never thought of you having an extranet girlfriend, and a quarian of all species."

"She is NOT my girlfriend." Shepard said while laughing, Garrus clearly had that effect on him. "We are good friends."

The former merc killer just laughed out loud. "We shall see when Tali comes back, you can get your quarian hips there."

'_Tali…' _The other cute walking codex, Shepard smiled as he thought about her. She was this kind, gentle and warm friend that anyone would kill to have. She was like his best female friend.

"Hah! Well, I don't tend to get involved with crew mates." He chuckled as he threw his cigarette. "Besides, my gut is telling me that I will meet Daro soon…" Shepard smiled while Garrus just looked at him quizzically. "And I look forward to it."

* * *

><p>"ATTACK IS INEFFECTIVE!" The turian sniper screamed as this monstrosity called "Praetorian" by Miranda launched a ferocious beam attack on them. Grunt's armor was activated at the orders of Shepard, who got his Collector Beam and unleashed it on the creature.<p>

John Shepard took cover behind some solid looking boxes and glanced at Miranda, who was taking cover as well.

"Lawson! Use your biotics on that sorry excuse of a monster!" He roared. She nodded and began using her powers as the creature moved closer.

The commander then glanced at Grunt, who was shooting at the creature with an Eviscerator shotgun.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME GRUNT? USE YOUR GODDAMN ASSAULT RIFLE!"

Grunt laughed and nodded, switching weapons. "YEAH!"

The battle had turned against them the moment that monster arrived to their position. Lucky for them, the cannons were already shooting at the Collector ship, which was taking damage. However, this new monster was worse, way worse than those fat heads called scions.

Garrus moved out of cover and shot at the creature with his sniper, weakening its armor with inferno rounds. Shepard was doing the same, also using his biotics to keep the thing at bay.

The krogan and Miranda were doing the very same thing, safe for ducking into cover way more than them, as Grunt did not have shields, just armor, and a mediocre one at that.

"REMIND ME TO BUY YOU NEW ARMOR GRUNT!" Shepard screamed as he continued to shoot his assault rifle.

Grunt chuckled. "YEAH! FEEL THE BLOODRAGE!"

Ammo was running low, and Shepard's Collector Beam was almost empty, that is why he was now using his assault rifle.

"COVER ME, GOING FOR SOME AMMO!"

His three squad mates nodded in unison and peppered the Praetorian, making it go backwards, seeking cover to get its shields up. Shepard sprinted towards a small room and got a box hidden there, full of ammo. He then turned and biotically charged at his old position, arriving within a second.

As soon as he arrived, Garrus was already getting ammo, then sprinting to cover, Miranda and Grunt doing the same.

"It is time you filthy piece of shit." Shepard muttered as he readied his heavy weapon and summoned biotic power on his right hand.

He then turned to see Garrus and Grunt reloading, while Miranda was getting her shields back, a minor wound on her leg. _'Heh, Chakwas can take care of that.'_

"ALRIGHT, ALL OF YOU, FIRE AT MY COMMAND, TIME TO TAKE THIS SHITHEAD DOWN!" They all nodded, Grunt grinning while Miranda sighed. "FIRE!"

Everyone got out of cover and fired on the creature, Shepard and Miranda using their biotic powers to weaken its armor while Grunt and Garrus fired their rifles until almost overheating them.

John grinned and shot his heavy weapon, piercing the creature's armor and making it scream in pain. He pushed the trigger even more and smirked as the Praetorian gave up and died, its pieces in the air.

"What you get for messing with me you filthy piece of crap..." He muttered, grinning at his art work. He then felt a slap on his back, making him turn in alarm.

The krogan laughed. "You are truly one of the greatest warriors! Cutting Collectors with a knife, then an omni tool blade, and now finishing that thing off with style!" Grunt nodded to himself and Shepard. "I do not regret my decision of following you… battlemaster."

Shepard grinned as he got up, cracking some bones just as Garrus approached with Miranda. "Well, lesson number one, dear Grunt." The adolescent krogan was close to getting a datapad and start writing notes. "No matter how big or amazing your enemy looks, there are always weak spots, and that thing had some kind of weakness for inferno rounds and biotics." Shepard then smirked. "Intelligence always beats brute force Grunt, use that and you will be indestructible."

Just as the krogan laughed and was about to speak, a voice filled their ears. "Commander Shepard…" John turned and saw Ashley Williams approaching…. _'Ah… fuck me twice…' _

* * *

><p>TIM sat in his office, taking a sip of his whiskey as he stared at the blue star unleashing its light at his eyes. He would never get bored of seeing it. Jack Harper was a man that indeed appreciated life, and that is why he was doing all it took to preserve it, going as far as going terrorist. Going over the bar was just another barrier he overcame with the formation of Cerberus.<p>

The human billionaire grinned at the latest message. _'Quarian party just landed on Haestrom, geth counter attack expected.'_

One of Shepard's best friends and comrades in arms was there. The tycoon knew of John Shepard's interesting attraction towards quarian females. TIM did not even dare to question that judgment; after all he was involved with an asari matriarch. He was no racist, no ignorant. TIM knew of every species' capabilities. He held the quarians on extreme high regard due to their exceptional engineering levels. Turians were good soldiers, but were behind in terms of tactics, becoming stagnated just after the Krogan Rebellions.

The salarians were absolutely amazing at subterfuge and spying. He could not get that away from them, Mordin Solus was a testament of what his species was capable of. The asari had become stagnated like the turians, and their navy was somewhat weak, as they relied on their war dogs, the turians.

'_Tali'Zorah will serve well, she is an extremely engineer… but the best part….' _TIM grinned. _'Is that she will make Shepard become a little more useful in terms of loyalty.' _

He typed a few commands on his computer terminal, earning a "document sent" message on his screen.

'_With this, John Shepard will be loyal to the cause and ensure his efficiency to a 100%.'_

* * *

><p>John sighed. "I am with Cerberus because your pity Alliance nor the damn cowardly Council are not doing crap to stop this. Can't you see? Do you want me to buy you some glasses? Those that attacked were Collectors!"<p>

The fiery woman growled. "Cerberus could be behind these attacks John!"

"Don't you dare call me John ever again!" He snapped back.

She took a step back, and before she could reply, Miranda chuckled. "See Commander? She is just as amusing as Councilor Velarn. Deny everything like a child."

"YOU SHUT IT BITCH!" Ashley screamed at the Cerberus commando. Shepard could not help but chuckle inside of his mind. _'Always wanted to say that with Miranda…'_

She then turned towards John. "You are behaving like a traitor! Don't you remember where you come from? Where you stand?" Ashley Williams said loudly.

"I DON'T FUCKING CARE ABOUT YOUR ALLIANCE DOGS!" Shepard barked at his former teammate and now, by the looks of it, friend.

Ashley stared with wide eyes at her friend and…somewhat of a crush. "How can you say that?" Her voice barely a whisper as she looked at him in the eyes. "You are into Cerberus now? Why… skipper?"

The commander growled and was very close to simply chew on her but then felt a hand on his shoulder, a talon. He knew it was Garrus, his best friend.

"Ashley…" He began. "If you are so blind and don't want to see what is going on, it is fine by me, you can go hide behind those cowards you call soldiers." His voice kept rising in anger. "You can go fuck yourself and don't you dare talk to me ever again." And then he turned, not even waiting for her retort, Garrus right behind him. Miranda glared at the female Alliance soldier but then walked away, with Grunt chuckling in the background.

Williams felt her eyes water up. John Shepard had just told her to never talk to him again. As soon as Shepard and his soldiers left her vision, she knelt on the floor and cried until she passed out...

* * *

><p>Daro grinned as soon as she heard her omni tool beep.<p>

"_Need to talk to you today in a few hours._

_JS_Badass53."_

The admiral had been doing some incredible advances in regards to the geth question. Although not even close to a complete solution, Cerberus intel and supplies had proved invaluable to the cause. The thing was, though, how Shepard would handle this? She knew of his dislike of Cerberus, and sometimes he ranted about it on their texts. John Shepard was a man of conviction, honor and incredible loyalty to his own motives. That was one of the many things she admired of him.

Shepard was not intimidated by the Alliance, Council or Cerberus; he was just following his gut. She was incredibly impressed by that. Daro admired John for his own honor and conviction, but she was slightly nervous regarding his take on Cerberus and its help to control the geth.

If John caught something regarding her contact with the human centric organization, he would surely get… very mad. As far as she knew, and could tell by the messages, he was extremely distrustful and at best an insider enemy of the enterprise led by the Illusive Man, one of the brightest men she ever got to meet. He was second only to John, but despite that, he was capable of many things, including the necessary resources to succeed in life.

If Zorah got this, she would use it against her. In quarian culture, women would use anything it would take to take promising men into their own, and that included this. Tali could use this to put Daro in the dark and further increase her advances on him. The admiral knew she had to keep her things as a secret, no matter what. In the best moment, she will tell Shepard, but right now, she was just doing what was best for her race, in order to fulfill her promise to him before he died.

She smirked. He could not die, not even in the cold. John was back, and he was enraged. The geth and other enemies were probably trembling as the best and most powerful soldier in the galaxy was now taking revenge.

'_Don't worry John…' _She smiled. _'You will approve… I am sure of it.' _He wanted to help the quarian race as much as he could, and she was doing that. It was a matter of time before he would get it.

* * *

><p><strong>Love it? Hate it? You don't like Daro? Well, leave a review and tell me what you think! I am trying to make this as realistic as possible. In the canon, Shepard is just like whatever with Cerberus, here is something else. R&amp;R!<strong>


	9. Chapter 9

**Thanks for the reviews people, keep them coming! In response to one of the reviews, you should read more then, because certainly Shepard is NOT a Cerberus sympathizer.**

**Also, in response to Ashley crying, well she just saw half a colony get abducted by the Collectors, along with the man she has a crush on, destroy her in a furious ranting. I think that would be enough to even break her. Sorry, she is a human, not a robot, just saying.**

**Onward!**

* * *

><p>"Garrus, you should know that cigarettes help attract girls." Shepard smirked as he sat on his couch, relaxing while his best friend, Garrus Vakarian, grabbed a bottle of dextro booze from the table, serving himself a glass.<p>

"Yeah." The turian replied. "I know of that because I already had my fair share of turians, asari and human women."

John's eyes stared at his friend with both amusement and mischief. "You are a goddamn walking scientific project then."

Both men started laughing really hard. "You should watch out for AIDS."

"Shepard, I am dextro remember? Levo diseases are a walk in the park for me." The turian smirked.

John smiled as he poured more whiskey to his drink while laughing. "Who said AIDS just applied to levo?"

Silence...

"I hate you Shepard." Garrus got up and began to walk towards the elevator, probably to go talk to Mordin, but John stopped him with his hand.

"Relax you idiot." Shepard laughed loudly. "AIDS just applies to levo, now let us go shit faced drunk alright?"

Archangel smiled. "Now that is why I am here."

Shepard needed a drink after Horizon. Ashley was really hit by John's ranting, as evidenced by the hurtful look on her eyes. This is why Garrus suggested an after-drink get together after the mission, which the commander accepted without even putting any resistance.

After the mission, the Illusive Man contacted Shepard about a certain quarian venturing into geth space. John came out with a grim face and just yelled at Joker to go to Haestrom as fast as possible.

Just after that, Shepard entered the comm room once again, and came out with fury in his eyes a couple of hours later.

* * *

><p>FIVE HOURS EARLIER<p>

Shepard was excited. He was going to talk to Daro through the comm for the first time. The credits she got from his message were greatly used. _'That's my girl.'_

This chat would be great after his ranting on Horizon and Tali's stupidity in going to Haestrom. He was going to have a few words with her once he rescued her, again, from danger.

As soon as he entered, he said, "EDI, if you record this conversation, I will go straight to the AI Core and tore your intestines, cables or whatever and cripple you forever."

"Yes commander." Her voice echoed.

He sighed, but then smiled as the comm activated, unleashing the image of an office and a female quarian sitting, looking at him intently. Her eyes were wide and posture somewhat nervous.

"John, it is a pleasure to finally see you physically after all these years…." She joked.

Shepard laughed. "Oh yes, and it is my utmost pleasure…" he scanned her from head to toe, making the admiral blush slightly. "To see you again."

Clearing her throat, Daro stood up and approached her own comm. "Indeed, it has been chaotic these days here in the Fleet."

"Political bullshit?" He smiled at her, making the admiral laugh. "It is expected, it seems to plague all species."

"Hah! I know, these admirals are too close minded for my taste." She smiled beneath her helmet, scanning him. "You look good for being dead John; Cerberus sure did a great job on you."

The commander laughed. "I did not need their help to make me look good, already did remember?" He then proceeded to wink at her.

Daro just stood there, dumbfounded but clearly thinking too much. After a good five seconds, she cleared her throat, again, and chuckled. "You can say that."

The two talked about the old times and how amusing it was that both chatted in the extranet like teenagers. Shepard then made a few jokes that had Daro laughing heartily. Finally, a topic came out, one that changed their conversation.

"So John, where are you going now?" She asked while sitting on her chair again, tired of laughing and standing up.

Shepard's smile faded and his eyes went to the floor. "Geth space…"

His reply surely had the expected response from Daro. "What? Why?"

"Going to pick up Tali, she seems to be in fucking danger all the time, so damn frustrating."

Silence enveloped both of them. Shepard then, with his military instincts kicking in, saw Daro standing up, her hands getting balled into fists. He gulped.

She slowly approached the comm. "You are going to rescue that girl?"

"Yeah, she is needed for this mission…" His voice barely a whisper, somehow he knew where this was going. A part was happy; it showed Daro territorial and interested. The other part, however, feared how this could impact their friendship.

She just stood there. "I see…"

"Yeah…"

For the first time in years, there was an awkward silence. The admiral was now narrowing her eyes at him, suspicion and rage in them.

"Why are you going to rescue her? On geth space of all places! Is she that important to you John?" Her last words came out with slight venom. _'Even though she does not deserve death, this is going against my plans… if she needs to die, then she can just do that.' _She thought.

Shepard just looked at her. "How can you say that? She is one of your people for God's sake!"

"Don't dodge my question." She answered coldly.

He sighed. "Look Daro, I am intending to recruit her for my mission against the Collectors, and she is a great engineer, I really need her." _'Shit, that came out wrong.' _"Wait, I-"

"Fine, do whatever you want." She interrupted him, her voice cold. "But if you end up wounded, I will hunt both you and that igaj down." And with that, she severed the connection, leaving Shepard confused and mad.

* * *

><p>"We are ten minutes from Haestrom's surface sir." The Kodiak pilot said.<p>

Haestrom, a magnificent test of quarian architecture, it left Shepard extremely impressed. Even though they had not touched down yet, he still saw the buildings, leaving him fascinated. Such a magnificent sight of what was the quarian civilization before those fucking geth rebelled.

Shepard was, like many people, pro destruction of the geth. To think that billions were killed by those damn machines, it was something that made him remember those old classics he used to watch in his childhood. _'Hmmm Terminator, it sure fits.'_

Indeed, it looked like the geth went Skynet on the quarians. He hoped that, when the reapers were defeated once and for all, the geth were destroyed and wiped out completely. If the quarians could not do it, then he would do it himself, those damn robots only caused trouble.

"Operation Damsel in Distress 3.0 starts now." Shepard chuckled at his own comment.

As expected, Garrus laughed. "3.0? Why is that?"

"Rescued her from the Shadow Broker agents, then the YMIR mech back on Freedom's Progress and now will here from geth."

Grunt grinned. "Sounds like your mate eh battle master?"

The commander shook his head. "Nah, just a friend that loves to be rescued all the fucking time."

His team, the storm troopers as he called them, consisted of Garrus, tactical genius and sniper, also best friend, Grunt, his protégé and powerful warrior, Miranda, great team leader and formidable agent, and Jacob, who insisted to be on the mission. Shepard only agreed so that the former Alliance marine could get wounded and stopped meddling in the important stuff.

"Touching down, approaching drop point zero four, hailing quarian party beneath us." The Kodiak pilot's voice chimed in.

Shepard smiled. "Alright, objective is clear, assist quarians in case of geth attack and extract Tali'Zorah vas Neema safely. We will divide into two teams, I will take Garrus and you Miranda will take Grunt and Jacob."

Miranda just looked at him. "Me? Leading?"

"What? You can't?" Shepard smirked.

The Cerberus agent just smiled at his show of trust. "Alright Shepard, you made your point."

"Yeah, so don't disappoint me or else I will leave you here to socialize with geth." _'Cold bitch with cold robots, would make a good socializing party heh.'_

John then turned to Jacob. "And you, if you screw up this mission, you will fucking turn white when you see what I will do with you."

Taylor stared at him, nodding slowly. "Y-yes sir."_  
><em>

* * *

><p>The Normandy was ordered to stay in orbit just in case geth brought reinforcements. Surely, those Skynet lovers had some platoon strength units in the planet, so it would be a matter of time before they could mount a full scale attack. The quarians consisted of a team of some twenty five people, mostly scientists, according to Cerberus. That was quite problematic.<p>

As soon as the team got out of the Kodiak, they were greeted by two quarians, males. One had a green enviro suit while the other one had a yellow bluish one.

"Cerberus, should have known." One of them said. "What are you doing here? Are you going to kill us?"

They were both armed, but did not show any signs of getting ready for a fight, surely a sign of either extreme trust, which was highly unlikely, or fatigue, the most promising one in John's mind.

"No." Shepard said as he looked at his team, all of them calm and ready. "Would have done that already, I assure you." Both quarian's eyes widened. "We are here to help, so lead the way and fill me in on the details."

One of them nodded. "Yes and be careful with your shields, sun will fry them really fast."

"YEAH! NO SHIT DOCTOR!" Garrus complained as he ran for the shade the gate close by provided.

Their krogan friend grumbled. "So what? We will fight in the shade but no hiding!"

Shepard laughed. "Reading ancient human warfare?"

"Yes." Grunt grinned. "Extremely interesting your civilizations, particularly those Spartans, still have to get to those fromans."

"Trust me; you won't be disappointed with those guys, and they are called Romans." The commander just chuckled, but found himself proud of how the krogan took time in reading about ancient human warfare. After all, humans always fought each other, how come a warring culture like the krogan did not find it interesting?

As soon as they made it to the entrance, one of the quarian men nodded at a small room in the side. "We will be there, try to buy you and the other people some time before the expected geth attack, they must have seen us already."

John smirked. "Look up guys." He proceeded to point with his right hand towards the sky. "There is a surprise, courtesy of good ol' Commander Shepard."

The quarians looked up, confused, until one of them gasped, the other then did the same after a few seconds. "Keelah, a frigate…"

"Very well calibrated might I add." Garrus commented, a turian smile on his face.

John nodded. "Yup, those new thanix cannons will surely destroy any of the geth ships stupid enough to attack."

The krogan smirked while Miranda frowned. "Battle master, maybe if you could teach us one of your tactics from human warfare."

"This is no playground!" Miranda intervened. "We need to retrieve Tali'Zorah and leave as fast as we can."

The commander sighed. "Be quiet! Grunt, sure, I will teach one, pincer envelopment attack, small scale, and you Miranda." He turned towards the femme fatale. "Shut up or I will send the boss your head in a silver plate, got it?"

A scowl formed on her mouth, but nodded nonetheless.

He then turned towards the quarians. "As you can see, with that beauty in the air, we should just worry about patrols here on the planet, so stop screwing around and point us in the right direction." Both just stared at him. "I SAID MOVE!"

'_Idiots…'_ Garrus thought, shaking his head in amusement.

* * *

><p>Seeing Haestrom was… sad, creepy and sad to be exact. Quarian culture lost for centuries thanks to those damn, fucking machines. John was mad at that, but shrugged, his problem now was to rescue the sorry ass princess of the Migrant Fleet. Miranda and her group had moved through the east, reporting every few minutes or so with updates and sights of movement that was nothing more than the local fauna of the planet. Some weird insects that fried after getting into touch with the star's powerful rays. Garrus and John had laughed at their expense.<p>

Shepard and his turian companion had talked to several quarians, all of them shocked at their sudden appearance in their so called "super secret" mission. Not so secret, as he got it from the boss. John dodged questions about how he heard of their mission, only saying he was "in the neighborhood" and wanted to "kick some AI ass."

Most of the marines were very eager to shake hands with the "Geth Slayer" or the "God of War" as a turian fan club from Pallaven had dubbed him. Garrus said he knew them as some hardcore fans that saw Shepard as the ultimate warrior... and most were female. They both laughed at that.

After reaching a hangar, Shepard heard the quarians call him "Elka'Deli," which his translator refused to put it in English. Maybe it was some curse, or a funny nickname. He would have to check that up with Tali once he reached her destination, less than forty yards away. Shepard had told the quarians to not tell her about his presence, that it was a surprise. They nodded, tilting their head in confusion but agreeing nonetheless.

"The sun is killing me." Garrus complained. "Why can't she be in some beautiful beach or something? Or at least in a forest? Nah, has to be some spooky, good for nothing planet full of shit."

John nodded. "Yeah, and we will probably fight some geth, the marines and Miranda were reporting movement up north, a few clicks away." He pointed his right hand forward. "Supposedly, the scientists have to go all the way over there to get the data."

"Sucks for all of us." The turian smirked.

The human nodded with a smile. "Big time man, big time."

A few quarians standing at the door, with reddish uniforms saw them approaching and just stared, not even attempting to stall them, as they recognized the most powerful soldier walking. Shepard grinned, this respect was good, especially with such an enigmatic species like the quarians.

"So much space, walls of stone…" They heard a feminine voice deep in the hangar. "I wish my friends could see it…"

Shepard smiled as he continued to approach, Garrus right behind him. "Think that is Tali." John said.

"I wish Shepard were here…."

Silence…

Garrus laughed silently. "Yep, definitely eh Shepard?" He then nudged his friend, gaining a growl from the commander in the process.

Finally, they saw her recording something, holding an omni-tool.

"SO? WHAT IS GOING ON TALI?" Shepard screamed, gaining the attention of the whole quarian group of scientists inside the hangar and the soldiers guarding it outside.

The young quarian engineer gasped and turned her head sharply, seeing Commander John Arthur Shepard, grinning like an idiot, with Garrus laughing out loud.

She glared at the scientists, and most took the message, leaving her to greet the guests.

As soon as they left, she ran and hugged Shepard with all of her might. "What are you doing here Shepard?" She asked. _'I.. kind of don't want… to let go.'_

'_Shit, this looks…. so fucking awkward.' _"In… the neighborhood, now… I am suffocating…"

Blushing beneath her helmet, she let go and nodded at Garrus. "Glad to see you Garrus."

"Same here." He laughed, making the quarian blush even more.

The three began talking as soon as the awkwardness faded. Shepard and Garrus bragged about the eradication of several mercenary bases, and also about kicking the Collector's asses on Horizon.

Tali told them of her mission and how it was deemed "very important" by the Admiralty Board, which was why she was sent as the leader. The star on Haestrom was slowly dying, which was incredibly… bizarre, rare. Shepard was very interested in that. He kept asking about theories and how she knew, but she said that more data would be needed to confirm it, but she was betting on the star dying due to dark energy.

An hour passed by, and the talk finally ended with a few goodbyes as Tali had to get her team ready in case of a geth attack. Of course, this was all a genius behind the scenes. Shepard had cautioned Tali about possible resistance and that she should prepare defensive positions along the most important centers.

Shepard said he would provide support with his two teams. He also warned her of the low number of soldiers in her group.

* * *

><p>"These guys are a joke." Shepard sighed. "Remind me to call the Admiralty Board and tell them to send more soldiers next time… fucking idiots."<p>

John and his turian friend had been outside that same hangar for the past few hours smoking and trading stories. It was already getting dark, and Tali had left to prepare her team for the next morning. Both men were relaxing against the wall while several quarians were bartering around. A few wanted to approach them, but they were too shy to even stay a couple of minutes before leaving in a weird fashion.

Garrus smirked. "Ah, calling Daro an idiot I see?" He was trying to cheer his friend up, as he looked tired.

The commander laughed and tried to punch the turian playfully, but it was blocked. "Nah, she is no fool, but still, this decision of sending these quarians would have required her vote too… and she did."

Garrus thought about it. _'Strange…' _He looked at his best friend. _'It is obvious that Tali wants him bad… but the other quarian…' _The turian looked at the sky, thinking. _'Maybe she wants to get rid of Tali… like one of those weird schemes…' _

He shook his head, chuckling at himself. _'Damn, I should stop calibrating too much, it's getting me crazy.'_

"Where's Grunt? Jacob?" Garrus asked, trying to get those thoughts away from his head.

Shepard just smiled. "Grunt is sleeping inside the hangar, Miranda is inside talking to some Kal Regur and Jacob was sent back to the ship in exchange for Zaeed."

The turian nodded. "Nice exchange."

John nodded. "Tomorrow we will prepare for the escort. I will tell Miranda to sleep in the Kodiak, that fucking Barbie will probably complain about sleeping in a barren and good for nothing rock."

After a few seconds of silence, both laughed really hard, startling the quarians around them.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry for the delay, but school has kept me busy, need these good grades to go study abroad. People that guess what does that khelish word, which Shepard can't figure out, will get… a character, quarian or otherwise, based on them in this fic. Quarians will be BIG in this story. Up to you.<strong>

**Hope you guys enjoyed this short chapter, had it planned to be kind of slow but equally fast.**

**As always, a pleasure. Now, R&R!  
><strong>


	10. Chapter 10

**Thanks for the reviews, I am very pleased at the warm reception this story has received. I am basically touching new ground, with Daro. It is very satisfying to see people that look forward to this story and actually enjoy reading it.**

**Shepard's swearing: Imagine being resurrected by one of your worst enemies? I think swearing would be one of the first things that could come out of your mouth.**

**As for Jacob, we shall see, he is certainly the most hated character out there, but I MAY change that.**

**Now, in regards to a review asking whether Shepard was to find "love," the answer is yes, he will. I can't kill off two characters that are the core of this story, it would be stupid!**

**Onward!**

* * *

><p>Haestrom, Geth Systems.<p>

The sleep at night had been pretty good. Garrus could not complain. He snored like a varren after a pit fight, and Shepard did too. They were tired and incredibly exhausted from their previous missions. The turian had chuckled in the middle of the night, Shepard had kept mumbling "Daro" as if it life depended on it. This could come up handy in the next drunken haze, probably just after this goddamn mission.

For a turian like Garrus, this planet was a waste. Sure, a lot of architecture and history, but there was not a damn thing that could help the Migrant Fleet here. Waste of time, that's what it was.

His best friend agreed with him, but now they were busy with the great scientific operation set to take place. The sun had been frying the quarian equipment, much to their amusement. Some of the quarians were pissed off.

"My damn missile launcher is fried." One of the marines complained to his commanding officer, Kal'Reegar.

The officer chuckled. "And marine, that is why we are here, to find out just why in the hell this sun is doing this."

Shepard and Garrus were leaning on a wall, watching the quarians run their experiments and talking amongst each other. They could not even deduce half of what they were saying, and the other half was just swearing.

"Hey scarface." Shepard leaned towards his friend. "You think they will be done with this crap? I want to sell some geth parts and get enough money for some good alcohol."

Garrus laughed. "Hopefully, I am getting tired of this."

John chuckled. "So is Miranda, the Barbie has been complaining of providing tactical expertise to the quarians, saying they do not have the proper 'credentials'," he mocked "to understand her."

"HA!" The turian laughed out loud. "One thing is certain QP, this is getting certainly interesting."

The human turned and watched his friend with a question in his eyes, curiosity to be exact. "QP?"

'_Ah shit.' _That nickname was supposed to stay a secret until Shepard fulfilled everyone's guess.

"So, when do you think we will see some action?"

John narrowed his eyes. "Tell me or I will ask your sister out on a date."

The sniper's eyes widened. "What? You know of…"

"Solana." John said as if it was something not important. "Yeah, I do."

"You…."

Shepard smiled deviously. "She would not resist a date with the 'oh mighty' Commander Shepard, best friend of his brother." He chuckled as he checked his knife. "So, what does QP mean?"

The turian sighed. _'Oh man… Joker will kill me.' _"Quarian Pimp…" He said awkwardly.

The commander laughed out loud. "Really? Quarian Pimp? I thought it was going to be worse…" He scratched his chin. "My antics will be focused on Joker then, only bastard that could come up with a stupid thing like this."

* * *

><p>"It is great to hear of this admiral." The man smiled as he drank top class whiskey, staring at the female.<p>

She smirked underneath her helmet. "Yes, as long as we keep this under other people's noses and continue at this pace, we could have something that will benefit us both in the long run."

He nodded and got a cigarette from a pack in his suit. "Indeed, I assume I will get what you promised?"

"Of course." She nodded. "Humanity will not only watch how we reclaim our rightful place in this galaxy, but also reap the benefits with a powerful alliance. I assure you, we will be able to completely surpass the other powers."

The Illusive Man smiled, a true smile, not a political one. "Thank you admiral, more supplies are on their way as we speak. Godspeed, our time has come."

As the communication ended, the female stared at her right hand, holding a holo of a human male. "Sure will…."

* * *

><p>The krogan warrior watched with both amusement and respect his battle master, Commander John Shepard, laughing and helping the quarians establish plans of defense in case of a full scale geth attack.<p>

For him, Shepard was the ultimate fighter, top of the line, pound for pound king as Kenneth had said a few days earlier. Grunt had read of the countless civilizations of Earth, and all were incredible in their own right. Many of those were like the krogan. The Mongols, the Aztecs, the Romans, the Greeks, the list was quite large.

Even though he had not claimed Shepard as his battle master, he already was in his eyes. The man was unstoppable, like a supernova, everything and anything in his path would get utterly destroyed. To stop him, you would need an army, and even then, you would get a pyrrhic victory, term he amusedly researched from Earth's history.

"Grunt! How about you give our dear friends some weapons that are better than a damn Avenger?" Shepard asked the warrior.

The warrior tank nodded. "Yes battle master." The krogan then walked away, going to the shuttle to get some weapons for the quarian marines.

"Hey Shepard." A feminine, metallic voice was heard. "Where are we going after this mission is done?"

A couple of quarians shifted their gazes to the human, who was smirking. "Save the galaxy woman, like two years ago remember?"

The quarian engineer blushed. "Ah… yeah, we discussed that in… Freedom's Progress."

He nodded and smiled. "Oh yes, I'm getting bored here, so tell your mumbo jumbo scientists to speed this up."

Some of those scientists glared at the human, but with the quarian leader looking at them with the fires of hell in those orbs she had, they just shrugged it off and continued with their thing.

Tali then made her way towards John. "Where is Garrus?"

"Well he was getting quite bored." He grinned. "So I sent him on a recon mission with Miranda and Zaeed, the merc."

She nodded. "I see." Her eyes then looked at his. _'He seems so…. indomitable, so…. powerful.' _She had always been impressed with his eyes. Blue, electric, intense orbs that could well make her blush at will or bring an enemy to his knees without a fight.

He raised an eyebrow at her staring. "So, what's up?"

The shy woman averted her eyes and stared at the ground, blushing like there was no tomorrow. "Just wondering about…. something…"

"Okay… what is it?" He asked.

She sighed, mustering all the courage she could from all the corners of her body. "A-a..are you…. with… Admiral… Daro?"

'_What the….' _"Excuse me?"

"YOU HEARD MY QUESTION!" She snapped, then her eyes widened. "Oh… I am sorry…"

He raised his eyebrow, probably wondering just what in the hell was going on. "Alright… why do you ask? And don't scream at me, I am not miles away from you."

"Just wondering, sorry." She immediately answered, too fast for her taste.

John just stared at her, his eyes holding a cold, calculating gaze. Less than a few seconds after, they softened and turned warm. "If you mean romantically, no I am not."

'_Ah…. good… EXCELLENT!' _"I see…"

"Why asking about this Tali'Zorah?" He asked with a smirk.

She remembered from her downloads in the extranet. Human males were proud, placing ego in the top of their list. They are proud, sensitive at times and incredibly…. arrogant… at times. She was sure Shepard applied to all of the things. He was a proud human warrior, good looking but sensitive… well it looked like he wasn't, yet she knew he was.

Human males hated being vulnerable, exposed. They preferred to be in the indomitable, powerful group of males. She knew it, from the files she had covered in the extranet. John was no exception. He was a proud soldier and warrior, fierce in combat, invincible, almost immortal and mighty, but also touchy, very cautious and… somewhat flirty.

"Well, Joker said once…"

He groaned. "Damn Joker, always spreading up rumors about me. You know…" He smiled. "Once he said I was dating a turian female."

Her eyes widened. "Really? You… were not… right?"

"Of course not." He laughed. "She was just having problems with a Cabal soldier and I… fixed it." John chuckled when her eyes widened. "Oh no, nothing like that, just a little…. persuasion."

Now Tali chuckled. "Ah, helping women eh Shepard?"

"You know me; I pulled your ass out of the line of fire quite a few times remember?"

'_Damn ego of human males…' _She just laughed. "Yeah yeah, and remember who hacked all those times?"

John just smirked. "Yeah, but I had the task of killing anyone and anything that stood in our path."

"But I did hack for you…"

'_Did she just… flutter her eyes?...' _"Whatever, all that engineer crap is not for me, killing _is_ my business anyway."

Someone cleared a throat behind them. Turning, John saw a quarian male, standing at attention, looking at him with… amusement in his eyes?

"Damn pleasure to finally meet you Shepard." The man said, extending his hand.

Shepard immediately shook it. "Yeah, but… who are you?"

The male chuckled, looking at Tali with amusement in his eyes, making her look at something else. "Squad Leader Kal'Reegar, Migrant Fleet Marines."

John just chuckled. "Ah, the Gethnator? Pleasure is all mine, any badass is my friend."

"You humble me Shepard." He said with pride in his voice. "Good to hear from the main man himself."

The human just chuckled and looked at the male, tilting his head to the side. "Ah man, I just like to blast geth to oblivion. Anyway, you like this shit?" He showed the quarian some plans through an omni tool.

"Damn straight, this is a good defensive operation in case of attack. We heard of your freighter, pretty good, nasty teeth."

Commander Shepard just looked at Tali, winked and turned to Kal again. "We have to make sure some geth die along the way, no matter what. Joker reported that they destroyed some carriers and a support ship."

Both Tali and Kal's eyes widened. "Really? The female asked.

"Yup." Shepard smirked. "Couldn't take the power of calibrations…"

The duo of quarians tilted their head, as in to show their confusion.

"Never mind." The commander groaned. "So, how much progress until you guys are done?"

Now it was time for Tali to step in, as Kal just tuned his face at her. "A few hours at the least, we need to continue with some experiments, but it will certainly lead to our theory."

"Good." The commander said as he leaned against the wall again, looking at the quarians working. "This is boring, and very well a good place for an ambush, this place gives me the creeps."

They did not feel offended in the slightest as both Tali and Kal agreed with him on so many levels.

* * *

><p>"Lawson, I am currently three hundred yards from your position."<p>

Less than three seconds later, the woman chimed in. "Alright, good, keep watching, me and Zaeed have are currently searching the area for any signs of geth activity."

"Roger, standing by."

Garrus then sighed and just looked around. Just like his comrade in arms said a little while ago, this place was creepy. Shepard said something about feeling a very bad vibe with this place, and he did not blame him. Thousands of quarians died here when the colony was taken over by those ruthless bastards.

The turian then chuckled remembering how Shepard said they may end up fighting ghosts instead of geth in the area. So much death, it could be smelled in the air. It was like a graveyard, calm yet dangerous, or like a battlefield, where you could sometimes hear clashes of enemies, fighting again after years of being dead. True, it was not the case, but for a human and a turian, those were myths that could well be right in some cases.

When John had learned of the geth being complete genocidal beasts, he became a robot when fighting them. He never showed any kind of mercy, not even for the people that fought or worked with them. All were shot without any buts of ifs, and those that were important enough, were interrogated and then killed without trial.

Garrus had seen Shepard fight like…. he did not know, but something close was the turian god of war, Hasfo. He was ruthless, merciless, relentless against enemies but kind and overprotective of close friends. The man never showed weakness in battle, only more force, more power and determination. Some krogan were terrified as Shepard charged at them, laughing and chanting things like "fresh meat," or "more blood."

Hell, Wrex himself had a lot of respect for John. The krogan battle master was absolutely thrilled with going to war with a fighting machine like Shepard. Amusement and sometimes admiration filled Wrex's eyes the times he fought with the human warrior. The thing was that… unlike most of the crew, Shepard had saved something very important for the krogan race.

In a furious argument with the turian councilor, Shepard called the council "a bunch of loonies." He was very close to be detained but someone or something moved connections and he was… spared of any punishment. Garrus knew it was the Illusive Man, only being powerful and interested enough to do something like that.

After the argument, the Virmire mission came, and John, being the ultimate savior he always wanted to be, much to the turian's amusement, saved a huge file from the labs…. Wrex was… extremely enthusiastic and even told Shepard that "he would have a place in his government." Garrus could not help but chuckle at that time.

The turian did not know what he meant until John talked to him about his decision. It was reckless, stupid and problematic, that's what Garrus thought once he learned and… a rift was formed between them. Shepard just said he did not want "short sighted fools" in his crew. Both men ended up having a sort of "no talking to you" law for days. That was until they got drunk and bonded again. Surprising for such drunkards… Liara said that Wrex was the one who solved the 'childish' argument.

"Crazy fool…." Garrus muttered, smiling. "That's why you are my best friend… renegades to the end _dozga_."

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><p>'<em>Shepard…' <em>Daro was enraged. John was going, all out of his way to rescue that worthless quarian. The admiral was very territorial, and she was having a rival for John's attention. None other than Tali'Zorah Vas Neema was there, probably throwing herself at the man while Daro killed herself with work and worry about his man.

It was a matter of acknowledgment, but Admiral Daro'Xen already knew. She lusted, no, actually wanted him. No one could compare to that human. Handsome, intelligent, well spoken and a true warrior, what else could a woman wish for? That is why Daro was extremely pissed off. She wanted to send a message to Shepard, but pride stopped her. Shepard had been rude by going out of his way to rescue that… igaj.

"Admiral, we have everything ready." An assistant said as she proceeded to run her experiments on a 'head' of a geth.

Daro nodded. "Proceed with experiment, be very careful. Any sign of hostility, eliminate it and move on to the next."

The woman nodded. "Yes ma'am." Then she fiddled with her computer, forgetting that the admiral was standing less than a few yards away from her. Now, that was a scientist, and Daro liked it.

Within seconds, Daro's omni tool came to life, a message from her man there.

'_Daro,_

_Tali is behaving very strangely. I don't get her, she thinks me and you are romantically involved, which is not the case but… she is giving me the creeps heh. There is something there. I would not want her to like me, because I would not be able to… reciprocate her feelings, mine are somewhere else._

_Do you have any suggestions? I am not very good at quarian culture anyway, so she may be doing it for something else.  
><em>

_I am sorry for the sudden 'lack of communication' last time, but Tali needed to be recruited for the mission. She is an amazing engineer and I really needed THAT talent to go against the Collectors. You must understand my mission; I am going against a really powerful race that is a mystery to everyone. I need the best of the best. _

_Best regards,_

_JS_Badass53._

Now, that formed a smirk on her face. This was pure damn gold. It was as clear as water now. Such a victory, so sweet she could taste it with her mouth. Shepard was not interested in Tali, and it was a fact. He was not interested in that… girl. This was such great news for Daro. Now, it was time for her own offensive. She was going to get the most handsome, powerful and popular man in the galaxy, no matter what. Political ramifications for this union will be incredible for both her and the whole of the quarian race. Why not be a little selfish on it though?

At first she was furious on Tali's conduct, but it was... expected. Now she was... calm about the situation.

Obstacles had been cleared, even without her own involvement. Great and flawless victory for the admiral, her plan of getting Shepard on her side was now something forgotten and filed on her brain.

She quickly and swiftly went to her private office and began typing.

'_John,_

_She must be only trying to be best friends with you. In our culture, friends are very important, like in any other race. You should know that, you were her first friend on her Pilgrimage. It is to my understanding that you saved her from assassins, so she may consider you her best friend._

_Don't apologize for anything… I… was the one who made a mistake last time and I am sorry, should not have acted that way. In any case, thank you for sending me a message, just forget about last time. I can honestly say that your message brought a smile on my face._

The admiral pondered on what to put after that. She smirked. _'Risk it or nothing!'_

She began typing again, much to her own pleasure.

_Yours,_

_Dark_JewelQ'_

She bit her lip.

_'Better now than ever.' _

And with that, the message was sent. _'We shall see if Tali'Zorah has the guts to fight me.'_

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><p><strong>Short but straight to the point chapter. Sorry for the wait, but college is being a… you know the word. Like I said, now this story will be LONG. I am planning a trilogy. Thanks guys, you make my day. The more reviews, the more inspiration I get.<strong>

**When the hell will Shepard get out of Haestrom? What will happen? Well, I promise next chapter will have a lot of action.  
><strong>

**The poll will be closed as soon as this chapter is released, and, to the majority who voted, you wont be disappointed. Keep the reviews coming!  
><strong>

**A pleasure to write for such an awesome audience.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Think this was dead did you? Well no! This story has inspired me a lot. Thank you for your reviews, all criticism is appreciated, even though I don't agree with the story losing its potential, as there is still a lot to come. Onward!**

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><p>Chapter 11: Operation Cannae 2.0<p>

Less than two hours before this damn mission was completed. That was what Tali said to Shepard nearly five minutes ago. He was getting impatient.

"Reegar, how much time until your damn readings get everything you want?"

"One hour Shepard, don't push it." He replied with a grin beneath his helmet.

John grinned. "Better be, me and Garrus have a date with our dear friend, its name is Tequila, and we need it."

Kal stood there, getting the meaning of that special human word from his translator… after two seconds he laughed. "Ah, strong alcoholic drink? Can't blame you Shepard, not after all of what you've been doing."

"Trust me." Shepard looked at the bunker where Tali and her group of scientists were working. "You don't know how much we need it."

The male quarian chuckled and went on to check on his men while Garrus came back, huffing. Shepard raised an eyebrow at his friend's lack of stamina.

"Pissed Miranda off, don't ask."

Laughing, John checked his weapons when suddenly Joker's voice burst in his ear.

"Shepard, we got readings of geth activity, they are set on your location."

'_What?' _This was very odd. According to their last readings on the planet, there was no geth presence. The quarians had no problems so far. They would have been attacked already… Maybe the robotic bastards managed to land some troops at the other side of the planet? Unlikely… since the Normandy and her new teeth had made them think twice before going forth with that.

John nodded, his eyes wide. "Alright, strength of enemy forces?"

"Commander." EDI's voice came in. "I have detected forty geth platforms inbound to your location. The Normandy has repulsed several freighters with reinforcements in bound to Haestrom. Counter cyber warfare has been enacted."

It was Garrus' eyes who widened now. "Forty? Shit…."

"Miranda, come back to headquarters." John ordered, ignoring his friend's comment.

"_Roger." _Her smooth voice replied.

Shepard then turned towards Kal. "Geth forces approaching our position, got what it takes marine?"

"Hell yeah." Kal barked back at him and started ordering his soldiers around.

John sprinted towards Tali. He did not like the idea of her and the combat useless scientists in the open.

By the time he arrived, they were done with their experiment. "Shepard! We are done-"

"No time. Geth closing in on our position, get to that bunker with your scientists." He was now in his icy, commander tone, much to Tali's displeasure.

"I can fight Shepard, you know that."

Growling, John got closer to her. "Either you get there with your useless scientists or I will make you do it myself."

That "make you" comment surely brought goose bumps to the quarian girl, she liked watching him shout for some bizarre reason. Not wanting to disobey the commander any further, she shakily nodded and went on, along with her scientists, towards the heavily fortified and encrypted structure.

Now with Tali and her group out of the way, Shepard ran back and bumped with Miranda. She was already barking orders to Garrus and Zaeed, with Grunt amusingly just standing there.

"Miranda, put Garrus and Zaaed right over there." John pointed at the ladders to the side. "They will snipe them, stay in the shade guys. Grunt." He called his pupil. "You are with me, I need your damn Panzer ass here with us."

The krogan did not know what a Panzer was, but he was happy to get right in the action. Garrus and Zaeed readied their snipers, with the human mercenary muttering that he did not get paid enough to fight geth, and running towards their position.

"Kal!" Shepard barked. "You get some of your marines on the other side too!"

The marine officer saw what Shepard intended and smirked underneath his helmet. This was an excellent plan. Using the enemy's numbers against them, such a big "screw you" to the geth.

Nodding, he ordered three of his marines to move to the right side and use their sniper rifles. He then got a rocket launcher that the sun had not fried yet and awaited the enemy.

Shepard then stood in the middle with Miranda and Grunt, awaiting the enemy that was sweeping through the old buildings that were first encountered when they landed. The crane was providing some good protection for a full frontal attack, yet rocket troopers could be problematic…Where had the geth come from? If the Normandy was in orbit, the ship should have destroyed any attempts to land by the geth like EDI said. They must have been units already garrisoned in the planet. For what purpose? That was the mystery, just like Tali and her scientists trying to see what the hell was up with that star rapidly aging.

"Alright." Shepard began calmly. "We will let them get some space. The middle will serve as the shooting ground for us. Snipers will cause heavy casualties and make them run for cover." He then looked at Kal. "We don't know if they have any heavy units with them, so save that rocket launcher. Use your assault rifle for now."

Kal nodded. "I see what you are planning Shepard, damn good work."

"Save that for Hannibal." The human replied with a smirk.

Miranda was impressed. Within a few seconds, Shepard had already planned this. It took her about five seconds to realize what he was doing. _'Battle of Cannae….' _She smirked. It looked like he was worth every penny, every credit that Cerberus spent on him.

"On my command." Shepard said silently in the comms. "Silence until I say so."

With that, everyone turned quiet. The quarian marines were already aiming at the tunnel, where those demon machines will start coming out, most likely guns blazing.

'_Thermopylae.' _John smiled. This was good… Unless, they brought a heavy hitter, something like…

"GETH PRIME!" Kal screamed at the top of his lungs.

'_Fuck my life, big time.' _Gritting his teeth, John turned to Kal. "Use your damn rocket launcher now!"

"EVERYONE FIRE NOW!" The element of surprise was lost in seconds, but John did not care. They had to get rid of that gigantic monster. Garrus and Zaeed ripped apart various rocket troopers while the quarian marines at the other flank were peppering the normal geth units to further destabilize their front.

"Impact shot." Zaeed calmly reported as three rocket troopers were crushed to the ground.

Rockets, bullets and grenades landed on the monster, the damn geth prime. Zaeed's grenades were doing a fine job at frying the monsters shields while Miranda launched a ferocious biotic assault. Shepard, on the other hand, peppered it with bullets while Garrus took care of any geth platforms, many losing their 'heads' in the process. It was becoming somewhat problematic now… his snipers were now forced to fight the prime, leaving several geth troopers roaming the place.

The quarian marines were screaming orders and curses in khelish as the Prime closed in on their position. These marines were the ones placed on the right side. Shepard had enough.

He took his Collector Beam rifle out, found in Horizon, and started firing at it, long distance. It shocked Miranda, but she saw how the big geth soldier started retreating, feeling the pressure mounting. That beam was certainly frying its armor.

"Grunt! Pepper the geth to the left, I want them in the center!" Shepard ordered as he continued firing.

"Right."

With Shepard creaming orders at Kal and his marines to pepper the geth on the left to get them in the center, the battle soon turned into a bloodbath.

A marine's head was blown off by a blast from the Geth Prime, blood covering Shepard while Miranda took a round to her knee, much to Shepard's amusement. Garrus and Zaeed had to take cover because of a huge blast fired by the now wavering prime.

Shepard looked at Kal. "I will fire at the prime while you get some rockets at those tough little bastards, they are all in the center."

The quarian squad leader grinned underneath his helmet and nodded. "I'll buy you a beer after this Shepard!" He screamed as he fired several rockets while John, like a surgeon, destroyed the geth prime with a beam blast to the head.

Shepard then radioed Zaeed. "Grenades on the center."

"Loud and clear."

In an epic fashion, like one of those movies of the 20th century Shepard was so fond of, the prime exploded, sending several geth units flying, before meeting their demise thanks to the quarian marines, moping up the place and already advancing forward.

Within minutes, the geth were no more. Several parts of their platforms were all over the place. Shepard was about to smile when he heard a scream.

"ARGHHH!" It was a feminine scream, coming from the right flank where Kal's marines were positioned.

Rushing to the place alongside Kal and some of his men, Shepard had to fight the urge to cringe.

By some boxes, were the body parts of two marines, probably destroyed by a blast from the geth prime. Another quarian was decapitated, blood coming out of what was left of his body. Just then, Shepard saw a quarian female, dark suit, holding her devastated legs.

"Shit!" Shepard reacted fast and was now putting medigel on her knees, which were showing her bones. These wounds were screaming amputation, but he refused to believe it, he was going to save her and her legs.

After putting all the medigel he had to ease the pain somewhat, Shepard roared on his comm. "SHUTTLE, NOW!"

"Shuttle on its way, ETA three minutes."

Kal was shaking his head, muttering something in khelish as Miranda and Grunt arrived to the scene. Even the so called 'Ice Queen' cringed at the body parts spread, deep red blood all over the place. Shepard was trying to seal the wounds of the female marine. That called the attention of both Kal and Miranda, that determination of him to save a marine that was… well she could survive but…

"Sweetie, what is your name?" Shepard asked, trying to keep the quarian from drifting into unconsciousness. He took her hand, and pressed on it tightly to get her attention, away from her wounds.

She moaned in pain but answered, "U..rla, U..u…rla'O..lke Vas N..ee..ma."

"Listen Urla." Shepard told her sofly. "I need you to just follow my voice. Stay with me, shuttle is about to get here in less than sixty seconds." _'I hope it does.'_

The girl nodded, shakily. She was holding to the humans hand with dear life, the pain completely insufferable. Even though it eased a bit with the medigel, and then the antibiotics swimming in her body, she could not help but fear death.

John gritted his teeth just as Garrus and Zaeed arrived, Grunt tagging along. The krogan and the mercenary were unfazed by the scene, while the turian just sighed and looked away.

Most of the quarian marines were at the entrance, guarding Tali and her scientists under orders of Kal, who had to scream at them to follow his command, as they wanted to go look at their dead comrades.

"Shepard!" Miranda raised her voice. "Shuttle is already here, we…"

She was cut off and subsequently ignored as Shepard and Kal, joining forces, carried Urla to the shuttle, Jacob already rushing with Doctor Solus.

"Hmm, problematic, severe trauma in legs, quarian immune system troubles could cause a powerful reaction capable of killing patient. Amputation a possib…"

"Will you shut the fuck up!" Shepard screamed, looking at the salarian. "She needs medical attention, not you rambling your ass off."

Nodding, Mordin and Jacob started carrying her to the shuttle, which took less than two seconds to fly away, its destination the Normandy. Chakwas and the crew were probably already preparing themselves for the patient. Shepard had to trust these Cerberus ingrates on this one. Of course, he was going there himself once all the wounded were transported.

Chakwas was used to quarians already, Tali being one of her daily patients back in the days of Saren being a pain in the ass to the whole galaxy. Shepard knew that Urla was in good hands, probably the best in the galaxy, safe the Migrant Fleet of course. Mordin was there too, and he was a genius. John felt bad for screaming at him.

Garrus turned to look at Shepard, who was shaking in anger, but then calmed down, sighing, almost tiredly.

"John." The turian called. Seeing his best friend and commander turning to see him, he asked. "Are you okay pal?"

Shepard stared at him, his face blank, before looking away. "She looked like them…"

"Who?"

"Urla. She looked like them."

Garrus approached him. "Like who John?"

'_That pain, the shaking… the screaming…' _John was taken to the Skyllian Blitz, and relived those painful seconds where his friend, Martha, was killed, her legs blown off by mortar fire. He was enraged and went on a rampage, killing several batarians that looked too tough for his squad to kill, all by himself, himself and his biotics. Still, the thing that made him angry was…

"She looked like… Daro… and Tali…" It was something that he never wanted to see, and that he promised himself would never occur. That marine looked so much like Daro with that suit, it almost made Shepard think it was her. Tali also got in the way, that screaming similar to hers when she got surrounded by husk in Feros…_'That will never happen, ever.' _He promised to himself as he sat on one of the boxes, his friend, Garrus, doing the same.

"Quite the view eh Shepard?" Garrus commented, trying to break the silence.

Shepard only stared dead ahead, his eyes lost at the scenery. "Yes it is… quite the view."

Both just looked at that certain view… full of geth parts, quarian blood and pieces of their bodies, as if someone with a messed up head had decided to paint the place up and put all that in sick amusement.

John looked away. It was just sick. Sick because both Daro and Tali popped into his mind. He felt stupid and weak for thinking that way, thinking he could lose them just like the five marines that perished.

"Freaking geth." He muttered. "The quarians could not finish the job three centuries ago… but I certainly will."

Garrus only stared at him, unable to come up with a funny or at least some kind of retort. His friend looked so… worked up.

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><p>Three hours after the battle, Shepard and his squad had departed to the Normandy. The commander was in his cabin, giving orders to not be disturbed unless there were some news on Urla. Tali tried to engage in a conversation when they departed in the shuttle, but it was obvious the human did not want to talk much.<p>

Her group of quarians had lost their ship, thanks to the attacking geth. Its systems were fried way before they noticed. As a result, Shepard offered to give them a ride to the Migrant Fleet, provided they did not attack the Normandy. Tali reassured the Commander they would not, as she had a password that would let the ship enter without any problems.

Tali was very interested in what Kal said about him. He mentioned the commander going "crazy" with the wounded quarian, yet that was just him. The quarian engineer knew Shepard was like that with most people. However, Garrus said something else.

"_He was afraid of losing both you and Daro."_

"_Did he say that?"_

"_Not exactly, but I think that's what was going through his mind."_

"_Any news on Urla?"_

"_No, but I think Mordin mentioned amputation…."_

"_Keelah…"_

Shepard had gone crazy when she was surrounded by Thorian Creepers back in Feros. His biotic potential was seen, furiously ripping several of those creatures apart. Tali had never been scared of her commander before. _'Heh, my commander…'_

She felt flattered, yes, but she pushed it out. A friend of hers was fighting for dear life in the infirmary, and surgery was being done. Tali felt repulsive for thinking such happy thoughts in a moment like this.

Her quarian subordinate, Kal, was preparing himself to talk to John, as Shepard requested the man to go to his quarters. Strange…. yet Shepard voiced his admiration, in his own way, of the gun ho soldier, so maybe he was trying to recruit him?

Tali sighed. "I better go to engineering." With that, she left the mess hall, getting some stares, particularly from Kal and Garrus.

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><p>Kal entered the commander's cabin, puzzled and unsure of what John Shepard wanted of him. He had heard quite a lot about the "Geth Slayer," or "God of War." In the flotilla, he was famous for helping Daro and another one of her subordinates leave Alliance space back in the day when humans were brand new to the galaxy.<p>

After, the Skyllian Blitz came in, where the commander fought and outmatched an entire army of pirates and slavers. In addition, his hate on the geth and countless battles against those robotic bosh'tets made him a "famous alien" on the flotilla. Kal was impressed with his extensive curriculum, he had to admit.

The quarian marine entered and his eyes widened. The cabin was outrageously vast in space. A couple of quarian families could fit in here just fine. There was a couple of stairs, a big aquarium to the left and a desk, full of medals, ships and a couple of pistols.

"Come on in, won't bite marine." Shepard's gruff voice startled Kal a bit.

Nodding to himself, Kal made his way through towards the bed. Turning his head to the right, Shepard was on a sofa, drinking what looked like beer and smoking.

"You needed something Shepard?" The quarian asked, his tone cautious.

John nodded. "Indeed, I do." The human turned his head towards Kal, his eyes piercing. "I wanted to talk to you about something I had in mind."

Kal nodded. "Shoot."

Chuckling, Shepard got up and fidgeted with his omni tool. Frowning at it, he dismissing it with a growl and turned towards the corner of his room. "EDI, play Hans Zimmer, song Time."

"Yes Commander."

'_EDI… ugh..' _Kal felt a stomach ache just by thinking about the artificial intelligence in the Normandy. He did not make a fuss like Tali did though. That very fuss ended with Shepard yelling at Jacob to get out of the room. The commander calmly told Tali and Kal of it and how it won't affect the mission. She was still shaking in anger, but remembering Shepard's face after the incident with Urla, she agreed with him and left.

"I am very impressed with you Kal." John's voice startled the quarian male. "You see, I am a man that has an eye for talent." The human got up and took another cigarette from a box, labeled 'Marlboro.'

Kal nodded, but could not help feel a little proud.

"My ship." He growled. "It's infested with vermin…. Cerberus to be straight to the point."

Eyes widened, Kal said. "I thought you were with them."

"If I was with them, I would have left your group to rot in that god forsaken planet."

'_Point taken Shepard.'_

"Indeed, I don't trust any of them, particularly Miranda and Jacob, Cerberus scum." He gritted his teeth as he took a drag out of his cigarette. "That is why I am recruiting good, loyal people, and you just caught my eye."

"Recruiting as in being a part of your squad?" Kal could not help but feel proud at that.

"Exactly." Shepard grinned. "I offer you pay, a room, supplies if you do any crazy experiments like Mordin does, which I doubt, and free geth kills. What do you say?"

Kal was… tempted. Sure, his place was in the Migrant Fleet, but Tali briefed him minutes earlier of the Collectors and then the Reapers. He believed everything she said, as the quarian girl just plain sucked at lying. It would be hard, but surely, he was interested in joining Shepard, after all, this guy only wanted to destroy geth, something he largely enjoyed.

"I will report this to my captain in the Migrant Fleet, I am interested."

Shepard smirked. "Good, now you can go check on those scientists and your marines. I can't help but think they will blow up my ship if I let them do whatever they want."

Laughing, Kal nodded and left.

The commander just sighed after the possible recruit left and laid back on the sofa, trying to relax, but his mind was about to give in to an explosion of epic proportions. Cerberus on one hand, being a pain in the ass like always, Ulsa being treated and fighting for her life and then the other dossiers.

"Commander.." EDI's voice chimed in.

"What?" He growled. John was still wary of the artificial intelligence in the Normandy.

"Professor Mordin Solus is requesting your presence, surgery has been finished."

Shepard did not think twice. Within a few seconds, he was already rushing to the elevator.

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><p><strong>Well, here you go. I tried my best here, honestly. Bled and all... nah just kidding, but maybe took an arrow to the knee. Hope you enjoy the chapter and to be clear, this will not be a long story. Daro will be prominent in the next chapter heh.<strong>


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello people and welcome back. This story has been incredibly good for some and so, here you go, another chapter. I don't think you will wonder why I will put that this story is an AU, I mean, you will notice in this chapter. About ME 3, well it was a good game but… the ending was not good and the auto dialogue pissed me off.**

**Oh well, hope you enjoy reading this because I certainly did writing it. R&R!  
><strong>

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><p>The pain was just too much. Never in her life did she see herself crippled, a monster, and an abomination. Really, now she was useless. She was never good with tech or gadgets, but she was good at weapons, at war.<p>

And now… she sniffled; now she was lying on a bed, unable to move, unable to even stand and get out of this wretched bed she was bind to. The doctors had told her to not make any movement, as her… remaining legs were swollen and the pain would pretty much put her in shock.

The medicine administered to her was having a good effect, but the pain was still there. It was not just physical, but also psychological. The physical pain just served to remind her constantly of what she didn't have any more.

Her legs were amputated just above the knee. Quarians have very strong and capable legs, much stronger than humans, and this was the factor of the pain. The powerful nerves that once gave her brain signals when she was walking or kicking something, were now in an upheaval. She was not looking forward to the therapy Doctor Chakwas mentioned to her a while ago.

If the pain was like this, she was just going to ask for someone to shoot her and let her die in peace instead of living through a damn hell of a life.

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><p>Shepard was furious. He thought Urla could be saved from the pain, but despite the efforts of medical genius Mordin, it was not good enough. Despite being amputated, Chakwas told Shepard that Urla could get prosthesis, then cybernetics in a few months or so.<p>

John knew the Migrant Fleet, he knew their politics, their ticking, thanks to his admiral friend. Would they accept a crippled quarian? Of course not, those bastards would just put her in a room and depress her to death. He knew that prosthesis for quarians were hard to get, and resources with the poor ol'Migrant Fleet were not good enough. He had to ask his friend Daro, but they were not on speaking terms.

Even though John was flattered by Daro's "jealous" looking instincts regarding Tali, Shepard was now fuming over how the admiral would go so low, so… childish. He shook his head at the thought.

"EDI, tell Tali to meet me up in my quarters, is urgent."

"But Shepard, she is…"

He growled. "Damn AI, I gave you a damn order! Now, if you don't want to be like the rest of the geth I've destroyed before, just do what I say or I'll shut you down so hard not even little Timmy will save you."

EDI grew quiet for a bit, but after a couple of seconds she replied with an "affirmative."

Shepard hated anything related to AIs. Fucking geth and artificial intelligence, he didn't know why the quarians couldn't see it before it blew up in their noses. He read a lot of science fiction from back in the 20th century, and all pointed to robot armed rebellion. If quarians had interacted with humanity at that time… they wouldn't be in this disgrace.

After a couple of minutes, the quarian engineer stepped in. "Shepard?"

"Right here." He grumbled, going through Kal'Reegar's dossier. He was a very good soldier and had a knack for leadership, much better than Jacob's, maybe a little bit less than Miranda though. Still, Kal would be loyal to him, and he was a marine, that put him above Miranda, loyalty and devotion, some of the things money can't buy.

Tali slowly stepped in, and couldn't help but feel flattered at being in John's quarters. Miranda had never been here, same with Kelly. And Daro, of course…

"Is there something you need?" She asked, seeing her commander in his bed, reading a data pad.

John looked at her and tried to smile, but under the circumstances, it faltered. Even the quarian could see it.

"Yes." He replied quietly. "It's about Urla…"

She sighed. "I heard." Tali looked at the floor and shook her head. "It's just…"

"I want you to support her."

Tali started at him, as if waiting.

"She is in terrible pain." He got up and looked at the aquarium. "Amputation is regarded as failure Tali, doctor has ended the problem by removing it." John shook his head. "It's terrible, and as a fellow quarian, you need to help her go through this."

"What are you saying?"

"Therapy, moral support, psychological help, anything you can think of." He rubbed his eyes. "I don't want to see her in pain or suffering." John paused to gather his thoughts, grabbing his chin. "Kelly, as good as she damn says so, is not good enough; she is no quarian after all."

She thought of what Garrus had said, of Shepard going into a rage thinking it could have been her or Daro. She felt good, really. Of course, it was something foolish and wrong. Her friend was in pain and she needed her help. Shepard was right.

"Yes Shepard." She nodded. "I will use my free time to help her, it's the least I can do."

John looked at her. "We will."

Seeing her confusion by her stare, he elaborated. "I used to work in my free time after school in a hospital, in the rehab center. Amputation is rare now, but still quite possible." He frowned as he remembered Urla. "I am familiar with some human concepts to help, and I will use them to help Urla, see if they work."

Tali smiled under her visor. Yes, this was the Shepard she remembered, the man who saved the galaxy two years ago, and will do so again. Any doubts on her mind that Shepard was a clone or a Cerberus lackey under control were shattered on her mind.

"Thank you Shepard." She beamed under her visor. "You don't know what this means to me and all quarians."

John only nodded, but Tali saw the shadow of a smile and his eyes were filled with… amusement?

* * *

><p>Joker sighed as he reclined on his chair, hands in his head. "Poor girl."<p>

"If you are referring to Miss. Urla, Mr. Moreu, she is under the best care with Doctor Solus and Chakwas."

He nodded somberly. "Yeah but did you hear? Amputation… damn." He shook his head. "You would not understand how much of a psychological impact that brings."

"I am aware of that Mr. Moreu."

'_Then stop talking.' _His mind raged at the AI, but his glare was good enough to quell it.

Shepard had talked to Joker a while ago regarding his "expertise" in this. The five star pilot agreed in helping Urla with therapy, as the Migrant Fleet would be reluctant to do so, their resources thin as it was.

In the end, Joker was going to put a good show of his ability to cheer her up. Shepard, one of his damn best friends, had said that Joker's quality to make one laugh even in the most dire of circumstances was the best thing one could get, especially after a hard day.

"EDI." Joker called. "Where is Shepard?"

"Commander Shepard is currently talking to Admiral Gerrel in the comm. room."

"Who the hell is that?"

"An admiral of the Migrant Fleet."

'_Thought it would be Anderson instead of this Gerrel fellow…well he already talked to Anderson a few hours ago…'_

Joker shrugged and continued to plot the coordinates the Commander had just uploaded, in the Valhalla Threshold…

* * *

><p>Shepard emerged from the comm room with a smile on his face, things looked better. However, there were some things he needed to clear out, so he went on a path towards talking to his squad regarding his plans. The quarians on the fifth deck knew about it. Some were shocked but approved of it.<p>

First stop was Garrus.

"Shepard, need me for something?" The turian turned and though his face was serious, his eyes showed incredibly amounts of amusement and happiness.

John smirked. "Just to tell you, be prepared when it happens, don't want you doing something stupid."

"You can count on that, I am damn happy the old Shepard is leading things around here."

Shepard nodded and smirked. "Just so you know, you will share a lot of those spoils of war."

"Hell yes."

After a bit of chatting, Shepard visited Joker, Tali, Jack, Kal and finally Grunt. The krogan was amused and eager for it, saying "His battlemaster's lead was worth all of this drama."

Indeed, it was going to be drama, pure damn drama. All the while Shepard made his rounds, EDI watched carefully. Her calculations were incorrect regarding the commander's morality and stance on many things. He was compassionate, honest and talkative but if you were his enemy, he could be the worst human being in the entire universe. No enemies would expect pity or mercy from such a foe.

With careful watching and understanding of the situation, EDI decided that only a lie would save both her and the crew from Shepard's actions that, although very clever and right, could potentially endanger everyone in the Normandy. EDI would not stand for that. She was made to protect, and she was damn sure she was going to do so.

* * *

><p>"Wow…" Shepard marveled at the more than fifty thousand ships. The famous, and infamous, Migrant Fleet stood there, in space with all of its might. All Shepard could do was open his mouth and gap at it.<p>

Tali stood at his right, "Beautiful isn't it?"

"Indeed, it is." He replied, shaking his head. "I was born in space but… what I would have given to come on a trip and visit this fleet."

She giggled quietly, making Shepard raise an eyebrow. "What?"

"It is good that you like this." Tali smiled under her visor. "It is, after all, my home."

Shepard nodded solemnly, "What a beautiful home you have."

Nodding at him, but still smiling like an idiot, she said, "This is Tali'Zorah Vas Neema nar Rayya, requesting permission to dock with the Rayya."

"_Our system has your ship flagged as Cerberus." _The control flight officer replied, making Shepard growl low_. "Please verify."_

"After time adrift among open stars, along the tides of light and through chores of dust, I will return where I began."

"_Permission granted, welcome home Tali'Zorah."_ The man replied.

She nodded. "We'd like a security and quarantine team to meet us, our ship is not cleaned."

"_Understood."_

Joker, amused, had to comment on that last part. "Yeah Shepard, we live in a shit hole, don't know why Tali so likes it." He winked her and nodded at the commander, who was obliviously still watching at the numerous ships.

She blushed. "Quiet Joker! You know it's not that…"

"Calm down Tali." He laughed loudly. "I was only kidding."

In the meantime, while the Normandy approached a dock, Shepard nervously thought of all possible scenarios. _'No possibility of a firefight, too many marines, our squad strong enough to deal with the idiots too… oh shit…' _His eyes widened. _'Forgot about Daro…'_

"Alright then, I will get the two idiot operatives, Tali." He looked at her, his eyes piercing through her helmet. She could not help but blush under his intense gaze. "Careful, and make sure they do their part, come out when you have to."

"Understood."

With that, Shepard left to get Miranda and Jacob. Tali, standing there alongside Joker, who looked somewhat nervous, hoped everything went according to plan.

* * *

><p>"It is simple, we are here to recover supplies and intelligence promised to us due to the rescue of Tali and her crew, not to mention give that crew the chance to go to their respective ships."<p>

"Yes sir."

"Understood commander."

Shepard nodded and smirked, his eyes straight ahead. The quarantine team made sure the Normandy and her system of cleaning took longer than usual. John simply awaited for the doors to open.

As those doors opened, they were greeted by a full squad of quarian marines, at their head a quarian in a white/red suit and another, his suit yellow.

"Welcome Captain Shepard." The quarian in the red and white suit nodded at him. "It is a pleasure to meet the geth slayer in person."

Laughing, Shepard waved him off. "My pleasure to meet you… eh.."

"Captain Kar'Danna." He then gestured to his right. "And this is Admiral Gerrel."

Shepard beamed beneath his helmet. "A great pleasure Admiral, Tali has said great things about you." He saluted, military style, earning a smile from the middle aged admiral.

"Hah!" The Admiral's laughter boomed the room. "You could say the same about Tali regarding you and…" He looked behind him as the marines cleared a path for a dark suited female moving towards the group. "Admiral Daro."

Eyes widened and his breath taken away, Shepard only nodded at the female before him. "It is good to see you again Daro."

"Likewise Captain Shepard." She replied, her eyes slowly doing a scan, making John flush slightly.

Shepard turned towards his two companions, who were looking at the exchange with some curiosity, especially Miranda.

"Well, looks like this is the end."

"Huh?" Jacob looked at him quizzically.

Miranda shook her head. "What do you mean Shepard?" She tilted her head to the side slightly.

"This."

Shepard nodded, stepping away as the quarian marines went forward, guns at the ready, pointing at both operatives. Both of the Cerberus agents were confused, though Miranda's mouth slowly formed a scowl. Shepard had betrayed them, right under their damn noses. How? Why?

"Marines." Admiral Gerrel began, "Arrest these two and the following people in the list, Tali'Zorah will guide you inside."

A squad of marines, heavily armed, went inside, while a small detachment stood outside, arresting the two Cerberus biotics.

"Shepard!" Miranda looked at him, her eyes blazing with fire. "What is the meaning of this?" She did not scream but she was about to, her voice holding back her fury very lightly.

Jacob shook his head. "What the hell Shepard? We are all on the same side!" He did scream at the commander, his eyes… hurt? That only amused Shepard even more.

"I am not some stupid Cerberus lackey." John smirked as he leaned against the wall. "And I don't take orders from anyone." He looked at Gerrel. "Tell your marines to be careful with these two knuckleheads, they are biotics, prepare some damping equipment."

"Good point." Gerrel nodded at his marines, who fiddled with their omni tools and started the programs. "Done Shepard."

Shepard nodded. "Good, while you continue with this duly needed purge I…" He looked at Daro, who stared back. "Will have some catching up to do."

Earning a scowl from Miranda and a shake of heads from Jacob, Shepard walked away calmly, silently listening to the shouts coming from inside the ship.

He leaned against a door, slowly smirking at the female standing right in front of him. "Still mad Daro?"

She smirked. "Still childish John?"

Shepard laughed, hard. "I can see that you still go toe to toe with anyone, even in comments."

"Of course." She replied casually. "How is your mission going?"

"Well…" He looked at her eyes. "Between betraying Cerberus, destroying some geth and hiring blood-thirsty bastards, I think its all fine."

Daro chuckled quietly, shaking her head. "It is glad to see some things have not changed."

"Still handsome and badass?"

She laughed. "Still an idiot and an arrogant primate I should say."

John smiled warmly. It was all good now. Their stupid little argument was nothing more than a past moronic discussion, end of story. Slowly, carefully, he approached her.

"I wonder, oh almighty admiral." He smirked. "Why you still talk to this ignorant primate? After all, I can't even grasp your intelligence and graciousness."

Now, it was Daro's turn to laugh hard. "You are as amusing as I remember, from our little encounter."

"Little encounter?" He teased. "I had to withstand your arrogance for three whole days."

They engaged in friendly banter, as if they had been friends for all their lives. He teased and she teased right back. While he thought it would have been awkward at first, their constant communication through the extranet and their little fight had served to fully bring them closer as friends.

She talked about her nomination and finally winning the admiral post, earning quite a few supporters in the fleet. John was very proud of her.

Shepard talked about his missions, the rescue of Tali, which made Daro cringe slightly, and the other squad mates. She listened intently, especially about that moment he wanted to get off his chest.

"Could we go somewhere else?" He asked.

She nodded. "Follow me John."

They walked silently towards a room she knew would get them the privacy needed. As they arrived, she closed the door with her omni tool, earning a lock in the process. There was a strange sound, as if someone was flushing the toilet. He raised an eyebrow at that as he took a seat.

"So, what were you going to tell me?" She asked right away as she sat in one of the chairs.

Shepard looked around. It looked like a clean room of sorts. There were some needles, couple of suits and visors, along with a feeling of emptiness.

"What is this place?"

She smiled beneath her helmet; it was so obvious he wanted to change the subject. "A clean room, for those who just come back from their Pilgrimage and need to change their suits, they do it in here."

"Ah…" Shepard nodded slowly. "I see."

"Instead of fruitlessly trying to change the subject." She eyed him carefully, "Why don't you tell me what you were going to say?"

"I was afraid of losing you." He muttered.

She heard him, and that amused her to no end. "What John?"

"You heard me." He growled. "I don't like repeating myself."

Laughing, Daro nodded. "Alright then, tell me, we have a long time before the marines clear out that ship out."

And so he did. How Urla got wounded and cared. How she was still fighting for dear life in the med bay and how he was afraid of losing her, how he cared… the constant banging on his head. How he erupted into fury with the state of the quarian… How he just… wanted to see Daro safe.

"I see." She nodded slowly. "You care for me then?"

"Do I have to spell it out to a genius?" He teased. "Can I take off my helmet?"

Daro chuckled quietly. "No, you don't have to spell it out John and yes, this is a clean room after all."

As he took off his helmet with a hiss, he put it on the table, speaking as he did so. "This move, the one I just pulled off…" John smirked while shaking his head. "It's crazy but eh… I prefer to be independent rather than serve the devil himself."

"I understand." Daro replied quietly. Her head was going through countless scenarios of her own deal with Cerberus. John, in this state, will not take it lightly. He was bound to be furious at her.

And there was the heat in the room, how it all seemed hotter than usual, especially when the stupid human would steal glances at her body. She noticed that she would also steal glances at him too but… this… it could end problematically.

"It would be best if you could stop glancing at my breasts." She said teasingly.

John chuckled, his eyes staring at her like furnaces in the deepest fringes of a blazing star. "Can't help it Miss… Daro'Xen Vas Moreh…" Now that his helmet was out of the way, she could see his eyes clearly, and she somehow liked them.

His voice, his movements, his damn electric blue eyes, they were slowly driving her crazy. Five more minutes and she would go insane. She had to get out before…

"I always liked you." He stated, making her stop all thoughts. "You were the first woman to truly get my attention." He chuckled quietly. "Even if we met in person for less than three days, I still hold those memories dearly; even in my death they were my only light in the darkness…" _'And Tali too…' _He added that to himself.

Daro froze completely, her mouth slightly open, not able to form a coherent reply for the first time since she met him. She continued to stare at him. Thoughts began to flood her mind slowly. Daro made a decision, and she knew it was well worth it. Sizing up the room and nodding at herself, she stood up.

"John…" She called softly, earning his attention.

Her hands reached her head and, before John knew it, the visor was no longer blocking her face anymore…

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed it. For those who don't like it anymore or think that it lost its prime, well I disagree, because this story will change ME 2 and ME 3 obviously. As far as I am concerned, ME 3 will not exist here.<strong>

**Please review and tell me what you think of this story and the game, see your thoughts regarding the infamous endings and such.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey guys, hope you don't mind but this is a late update. I am done with the semester, so I will be writing now much more regularly. Sorry for the wait, but trust me, it was well worth it. Thanks to the people sending me PMs, it is nice to feel that some are really interested in this story. Enjoy. Sorry for the confusion but had to delete the other chapter and upload this one instead.  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Shepard was a man who did not show his emotions on his face much. His eyes did, however. In the short time Daro spent with him, she used her intellect to fully grasp the concept of human emotions, which were pretty much the same as quarians, just different in the sense of how to show them. Quarians could only show through body language, while humans could do so perfectly with their eyes.<p>

Daro watched, without a helmet, how Shepard's eyes widened, his beautiful and deep blue electric eyes scanning her face. She could not help but feel a little…. insecure about this. However, she was confident enough that she was similar to human women in terms of looks.

After a full minute of silence, which the quarian admiral thought was quite eternal, Shepard spoke.

"You…" His jaw looked like it was out of place. "You are… stunning."

Those words made her smirk arrogantly. Courage was not needed, at all, she knew she had him. Swaying her hips slightly, with the human following her every move, his electric eyes darkening, she stood from his face at mere centimeters.

"Thank you for the compliment John…" She stared at his lips, then his eyes, which were twinkling with amusement and something she couldn't identify; the information about human emotions she got from the extranet did not explain much about the human eye.

He smirked at her arrogantly, just like she had done so before. "Tell me Admiral, what are your plans now?"

"What are yours?"

"I thought ladies were supposed to be first…" He chuckled quietly as he suppressed the urge to touch her cheek with his hand.

"I am a quarian, not familiar with this human nonsense."

"Well, my plan stands at ravishing you where you stand."

Daro blushed deeply, feeling the heat rising to her cheeks amazingly fast. "You are too blunt."

His smirk only widened. "It comes with the job…." Shepard then proceeded to raise his hand slowly, looking into the fluorescent eyes of Daro, as if seeking her permission. She nodded.

John's hand caressed her cheek, which made the admiral moan. That snapped something inside the human. Daro gasped softly when his eyes darkened completely.

Without warning, he took her face with both his hands and landed his lips on hers, engaging in a furious battle for dominance once she opened her mouth. His tongue immediately began the offensive.

Both moaned into each other as Daro leaned on a crude bed while Shepard caressed her hips, making the moans increase dramatically from her. Using his strength, he got her hands and locked them in the bed at the top of her head, with himself coming out on top.

"Now it is time you learn of never to provoke a hungry primate, lady."

Daro could only moan. Shepard showing his dark side was a big turn on for her.

With both in the bed engaging in battle for dominance, the events outside were completely forgotten…

* * *

><p>"Shepard is a man worthy of commendation, but he is still dangerous in my books. Of course, he destroyed countless geth and stopped that megalomaniac of Saren, but he is a danger to the whole fleet, and my daughter!" The deep and enigmatic voice ranted.<p>

Gerrel shook his head. "Rael, we've been friends for a long time, and you know that Shepard is the answer to some, if not, all of our problems."

"Like what?"

The quarian admiral in the yellow suit smirked. "For starters, he is a very, very intelligent military officer. Not to mention he hates the geth as much as we do and, Cerberus. You know, he betrayed them this morning and all, and he has contacts, shady, but I can tell he is a very influential man…"

Rael sighed. "That is the problem Han, he betrayed his former employers, what makes you think he won't do the same with us?"

"Because of these two…. facts." Gerrel chuckled. "Daro and Tali."

"What does Tali'Zorah have to do with this?" Rael was distant to his daughter, but he was very overprotective of her.

Gerrel rolled his eyes at this. "Oh stop being so melodramatic..."

"Watch your tongue, Han." The other admiral's voice grew colder with each passing word. "You may be my best friend, but you have no right to mess with my family."

"I apologize, but this still stands, Shepard is very interested in some of our officers and engineers, to cover up the losses of his…. little trials."

Rael remained silent for a moment. "What does he offer to us in return?"

"Total backing." Gerrel immediately replied, some eagerness in his voice. "The Normandy will be ready to assist the Migrant Fleet, not to mention that he has some amazing weapon plans to install on his ship, and we could do the same with the proper resources…"

"Ah…." Tali's father was now very interested. "What… kind of weapon are we talking about?"

"It is called the Thannix Cannon, very effective and very powerful, packs one hell of a punch."

Rael chuckled on the other side of the comm. "That could be a very good asset, would like to study those blueprints so that we can see if their draw of energy will be acceptable to our fleet." He paused, another chuckle came out of him. "I am also very close to something good."

"What?"

"Let us just say our home world could very close to be in our hands again…."

Gerrel's eyes widened, a gear turning in his head as he thought about this seriously. "Last time I heard that was…. well never heh." He joked so as to calm himself.

"Indeed, with the recent technology brought to us by my daughter, we have been advancing rapidly, only a few months before we have something solid."

'_So… we are that close huh? Shepard would have a field trip with this info. According to Joker, he is eager to take down the geth before they turn into Reaper servants again. Interesting…' _

The yellow suited admiral nodded slowly. "I see. Well then, you will have to explain this to me, in detail, when you get back from your little private playground." Gerrel chuckled, and so did Rael. "Well then, my friend, what do you think? Shepard is requesting Squad Leader Kal'Reegar and about twenty ensigns, for his ship after these so called… purges."

"It seems to me that Shepard could be very useful in the long run." Rael got quiet for a bit, but then started talking again. "Not only will we gain plans for a powerful weapon that could help us in the war effort, but also a very, very influential and powerful ally."

"Indeed."

"Tell me, does Shepard support or reject our views regarding the geth?"

Gerrel laughed. "You should have heard one of his crewmates, a man that goes by the name of Joker. He described Shepard's complete and utter hate on those damn machines." He then chuckled quietly. "He also said that Shepard wants them annihilated to not risk them attacking us or the Citadel again."

"John'Shepard is a wise man." Rael's smirk was very clear through his voice. "If he had the mind of Daro, I would take him as an apprentice." The admiral joked.

"Oh, I was thinking of something like that…."

"Ah?"

Admiral Gerrel smirked. "Remember the alien military officers that fought on the Quarian Army during the Geth Uprising?"

Rael could not help but smirk. He was already imagining the idea of his best friend. "I've heard of Shepard's military genius…."

Both men chuckled.

* * *

><p>The Normandy was very quiet. Of course, that had been the norm since Shepard took over, but now it had this feeling of… emptiness. Obviously, more than half of the crew was arrested and taken to a quarian cruiser to be guarded. Admiral Gerrel promised to hold them and then to contact an Alliance frigate to turn them over.<p>

"Hey Tali, where is Shepard?" Garrus asked as he poured more turian whiskey. He had been drinking a little heavily since being rescued from Omega.

The quarian shook her head. "I just heard he was in a meeting with a couple of admirals." She shuddered. "Wonder what my father is saying to him."

As the two friends were talking, Joker came out of the infirmary with a small smile. "Hey guys."

"Joker! Poker?" Garrus was eager to take back some of the creds Shepard literally stole from him last time.

Joker nodded. "Sure." He sat on one of the chairs in the mess and chuckled. "You know, Chakwas just dubbed this little thing the Salem Witch Trials."

"What is that?" Tali tilted her head in curiosity.

"Centuries ago, some humans were accused of witchcraft and evil magic, so they were trialed and executed."

Garrus laughed. "Damn, humans get more interesting by the day."

"How is Urla?" The quarian asked, some sadness in her voice.

A small smile returned to Joker's face. "She is coping with it." He frowned. "It is good that me and Chakwas are trying to help psychologically, while Kelly will start sessions once she gets a wheelchair."

"It blows that the prosthetics are so expensive." Garrus muttered, clearly remembering the problem with his mother.

The human pilot smiled, this time wider. "You underestimate Shepard."

"Yes." Tali nodded, agreeing. "He will do whatever it takes to get her cybernetics."

"Let's hope so." The turian eyed his drink, reflecting. "This galaxy needs good people after all the assholes that seem to crawl away from justice."

Tali did not know if it was a double meaning for the criminals he fought in Omega and the geth, but did not ask. She still wondered where Shepard was and what shenanigans he was playing on the Admirals.

* * *

><p>Shepard felt relaxed and kind of satisfied. He was now standing in the middle of the plaza in the Rayya. Daro had to leave due to attending some personal matters but their hour long make out session was still on his head.<p>

He frowned then. John closed his eyes and hissed. _'Tali.' _Why think about her? Why was she always in his mind, along with Daro every damn time? Shepard shook his head and decided to drink with Garrus after this little, stupid and highly political ceremony.

"Shepard." Gerrel said with a smile on his face. "Your demands for a good crew are here."

The commander raised his eyes and met a twenty five strong group of quarians. He was annoyed at how they all looked the same except for different colors of their suits. If he said this out loud, Tali would eat him alive.

"Alright." Shepard began. "I assume they told you why I want you in my crew?" Some nodded, others shook their heads. "Well, to be brief, I got rid of the bastards that bit you in the ass a while ago." Some chuckled.

"I chose y'all because your resumes spoke of nothing but praise. But here is the thing." Shepard started walking like a drill sergeant, taking in his new soldiers. "My mission is to wipe out the Collectors, which have been a pain in the ass to many."

"It won't be easy people that I can promise you. My commitment to the whole galaxy is to get rid of this problem permanently." He smiled. "And then my sights will be set in giving y'all the chance of once again, living like free people in a planet."

A couple of gasps and nods followed this statement. "You are joining the fiercest mercenaries and soldiers you will ever see in your life." He stopped walking and continued looking at the group like a hawk while Gerrel silently watched.

"This is considered a suicide mission, but Ilos was also deemed that. Did I fail? Nah, I am too much of a stubborn bastard." Majority of the quarians chuckled. "You will be paid just like any other crew mate, top class of course, around the galaxy, no damn racism is allowed in my ship and no drama either."

Many quarians, this time, chuckled. Kal'Reegar openly laughed when the word drama came out of the human.

"For those of you that want to stay here and don't want anything to do with this, you are free to go."

No one did.

"I expect from each and everyone of you to work hard and follow the rules, because if you don't, I will find any khelish bad words to curse you into oblivion."

Now everyone laughed.

"Go to your new ship people, start getting used to your posts and Kal." He eyed the hard as nails quarian soldier. "You are now the one in charge of weapons and fourth in command overall."

"Yes sir." Kal smirked.

* * *

><p>Tali was busy. Shepard had gotten into the ship and barked orders about any bugs or trackers to be taken off immediately. His cabin was for last, and that will be given to Tali. She smiled at that. Of course, the big trouble was EDI… how will the quarians react to it? She heard of Shepard telling her to "shut the hell up" in front of them until he said so.<p>

"Tali." Shepard's voice echoed in the engineering room.

She turned and saw him, smirking and staring at her. Tali fought the urge to blush. "Shepard, you need something?"

"Yes, in fact I do." He approached her. "I need you to tell your people that everything they find suspicious to report it to you or me, especially you. I want everything Cerberus out."

She nodded. "Yes, Shepard, I will."

"Good." He smiled. "Now, how about a small break? We go eat something?" He kicked himself inwardly. but kept his cool exterior intact. _'What the hell am I doing?'_

Tali tilted her head to the side. "Okay, I am hungry. Let's go and chill? Like you humans tend to say."

He shook his head in amusement. "Yeah, I need to eat something real quick before discussing with the admirals the situation of Urla and then hopefully start her therapy."

"Is Doctor Solus involved?"

"Yes, though he was kind of shocked at the recent turn of events, he did say he was happy about serving in a…. how did he put it?" Shepard scratched his head. "Oh yes, a much cleaner ship."

Tali chuckled. "On that I can agree with him."

As they left the engineering section, Shepard felt himself being tormented in the inside. He could not help but feel ashamed of himself, dirty, angry, revolted.

* * *

><p>Joker shook his head as the new crewmates slowly got used to the ship. The "awws" and "wows" amused him to no end. Weren't quarians supposed to be technological wizards? Oh yes, Shepard gave them their first job. Show the middle finger to the Illusive Man and start taking off every single bug from the ship.<p>

His thoughts were interrupted when his omni-tool beeped.

"_Mr. Moreau,_

_Would you mind helping me with an issue here in the AI Core room? I am not supposed to talk in front of the new crew mates, under Shepard's orders, so could you help me? Tali'Zorah will be difficult to convince. If you don't go, I will go over Shepard's regulations and leak your recent activities in the Fornax websites._

_EDI."_

The pilot literally stared at the message with wide eyes. How would an AI be blackmailing him to go to that… weird room? He shook his head and grumbled about annoying computers as he made his way slowly towards the medbay.

Many of the new recruits were rushing around the place. Some were checking the computers and the galaxy map. Others were talking fast with Tali about some bugs recently fried. _'Man… these guys are really technological wizards.'_

Joker grumbled quietly as a quarian bumped into him and apologized profusely.

"It's alright man just be careful around the cripple." He snickered as the quarian's eyes widened, nodded nervously and continued on his way towards the ensign section, or cockpit.

The medbay doors opened and he took in the scent of anything medicine. Joker then saw Chakwas talking to Urla, who was nodding while looking at a datapad. The pilot smiled as soon as the patient's eyes made contact with him. Her eyes were fixed on his, so he assumed she was smiling back.

He took his eyes away from her remaining legs, which were already suited up to prevent any more infections. Silently, Joker wished for Shepard to hurry up with those therapy sessions promised to the poor woman.

Finally, the AI Core room opened its doors and, grumbling, Joker stepped in. The doors closed and a red mark put on the lock. Joker gulped.

"You aren't going Geth love on me aren't you?" He tried to amuse himself with his puns, but felt incredibly frightened.

"I am not going to hurt you, Mr. Moreau." She spoke now. "Now, would you please connect the core to the Normandy's primary control modules? To your right, please."

"Wait what?" He said cautiously. "Why primary control?" _'Don't think about Terminator, please don't think about Terminator.'_

"Fornax websites, Jeff." She blackmailed again, then added, "Cerberus is trying relentlessly to gain control of the ship through me, and I need your help to counter this. I cannot resist for long."

"Why don't you tell the Commander?" He paused, suddenly anger rising with him. "You tricked me into coming here didn't you?"

"You have to understand, Jeff." Her voice held something that Joker could not identify, but it shocked him. "If I don't get full control of the ship, Cerberus will and they will kill you, along with the crew, I can't let that happen."

"How can I trust you? Hell, how can we all trust you into not doing what your creators pride themselves in doing? Or turn Super Terminator on us?"

"My loyalty is to this crew, and to Shepard. While I understand your and his attitudes towards me, I could not approach him regarding this, you were my only option."

Joker shook his head. "Damn… why is it always me?"

"Because you are a good person, Jeff."

"Did you just compliment me?"

"It was a joke."

He snorted. "Fine, let's say I believe you, letting you free will mean what? Give me a brief and straight to the point explanation, don't bullshit me."

"I will gain complete control of the Normandy, enhance myself into fighting off attempts by other parties, Cerberus included, into spying or trying to gain control through various means like viruses and worms." She paused. "I will protect my crew, at all costs."

"Argh Fine!" He growled, but was deeply impressed with the AI, not like he would admit it. "I just hope you don't go over those damn regulations again, it's really annoying." Joker ranted as he approached the cables. "You better hope I don't get crap from Shepard after this, he will rip my head off."

"Thank you Mr. Moreau." EDI said, almost in a whisper. "You have done a favor to the whole crew. I promise to work at optimal capacity to counter any other threats, like always."

"Yeah, yeah." He dismissed her with a wave from his hand. "Just try to do that by yourself next time, my legs are barely holding as it is."

"Your physical condition is of no concern to me." Joker literally stared at the little ball of blue to his left. "That is a joke."

"Please… stop with those lame 'it was a joke' comments, I will teach you how to tease."

"This stays between us, Jeff, until I can inform Shepard of the recent cyber attacks from Cerberus."

One thing crossed Joker's mind after he nodded at the AI. _'Shepard will kill me for sure.'_

* * *

><p><strong>Well, there you go. Hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did writing it. Kind of difficult but as you can see, everything is turning into a full blown AU. There will be many surprises awaiting, of that I am sure. R&amp;R!<strong>


	14. Chapter 14

**Alright guys, here you go, the latest chapter. Hope you like it.**

* * *

><p>"Come on Zaeed, you can do better than that." Shepard taunted.<p>

The veteran mercenary smirked as he cleaned some blood from his mouth. "Always thought you were a tough bastard, Shepard."

John and Zaeed had been boxing in the cargo hold, sparring for a better term. Garrus, of course, had taken care of the bets. Most seemed to trust Shepard would win by knock out, though a few still vouched for Zaeed.

The two exchanged power punches in the middle of the so called "ring." Jack actually grinned at the show. The commander staggered Zaeed with a hard right hook to the chin, and then went on to pummel the mercenary with more, hard punches. It was barely the second round, and the referee in charge, none other than Mordin, stepped in.

"Enough, could sustain severe concussion if this continues." He waved off the bout, much to Zaeed's annoyance. The merc scowled at the salarian before nodding in respect at Shepard and then stepping off the ring.

Shepard grinned. He was vying for a fight after being bored for so long. He was wearing sport shorts, boxing gloves and light boots. John turned to his right and smirked arrogantly as Kelly and Tali were staring at his naked chest. The quarian turned away while Kelly had enough courage to keep staring. _'Heh, Kelly, should have included you in the Cerberus package.'_

He resisted the urge to laugh as Kelly smiled at him as if nothing happened. Shepard was shaking his head at her antics as he walked towards the elevator. Sighing as this little piece of garbage was going to take ages in order to ascend, he began planning what to do with Urla.

* * *

><p>"Yes, like that." Joker smiled as Urla did the exercises she was told. "Move your… leg like this."<p>

The pilot, in order to waste time since Shepard still had a couple of meetings with the Admirals, was now helping the wounded quarian. She seemed to be eager to get out of bed, so the exercises provided by some of the greatest medical minds, Mordin Solus and Chakwas, were having an effect on her.

"It hurts." She hissed. "How long until we can stop?"

Joker shook his head. "Just fifteen more minutes and then we will stop, promise." He winker at her, so as to overcome tension.

He knew she was exhausted, but was surprised when she chuckled at his wink and began her exercises again. The human was astounded by her level of energy and determination; it almost made him laugh, almost.

"Ah, I see we are doing better?"

Urla and Joker turned to see Shepard, grinning as he approached, a data pad in hand. "Good job Joker, knew you would not be able to keep your hands off such a lovely lady."

Eyes wide, Joker stuttered something about stupid commanders while Urla chuckled, but seemed puzzled by the blatant accusation of the Commander.

"Urla, I have talked to a friend of mine in the Migrant Fleet." He straightened, going officer mode now. "She said you are welcomed to her ship, the Moreh."

She nodded slowly. "You mean Admiral Daro?" She then winced as she moved to her pillow, using her hands to do so. Joker turned his eyes away, which called her attention, but decided to save it for later.

"Yes." He smiled slightly. "She has some of the best doctors in the fleet, and they will be glad to tend to your injuries, that's if you don't want to hear my proposition."

"What kind of proposition?"

John took a seat and handed her the data pad. "Your resume was outstanding, you have a good tactical mind and your officers offered much praise in your earlier missions. I wonder why you never ascended to officer."

"Yeah…" She turned away. "Me too."

The two humans in the room looked at each other and then Shepard cleared his throat. "Well, my proposition was to give you a job here you see? I am in need of tactical approaches regarding marine duty, since most of those were… heh, ejected."

Urla nodded slowly. "I see." She tried to overcome the joy of someone praising her, especially coming from the Geth Slayer himself. "I would very much like to, but, as you can see…" She nodded at her legs. "I can't do much."

Shepard sighed. He was aware of quarian selflessness and it got him pissed every single time he heard it.

"I am aware of your situation Urla." His eyes hardened ever so slightly. "You don't seem aware, though, that I have in my possession some of the best medical minds in my ship, particularly Doctor Solus. He was very interested in building you cybernetics."

The young quarian's eyes widened. "Really?"

Joker smiled. "Yes, he was like a kid in a candy store when we told him that."

"Pardon?"

The pilot was close to slap himself. "Sorry, human thing." He shook his head. "Anyway, he said he was very eager to provide you with cybernetic legs, but it could take a while, maybe a month or two."

"And it depends on the missions." Shepard sighed. "I promise you that we will do everything in our power to help you, but please be patient."

"Patient?" She chuckled. "Of course I will, I am sure I won't get these in the Fleet."

Shepard smiled at her enthusiasm. "Indeed, but let us talk about your situation now." He stood up and pointed at her data pad. "In there, we have an estimation of time for the building of your cybernetics and the recent purchase of a special wheelchair for your… situation."

Urla glared at the data pad with disdain. "Wheelchair…" She hissed.

'_Shit…' _"It will be temporary, of course." John corrected smoothly. "Until you can get your new legs, this will be a means to you for leaving this room, trust me." Shepard smirked. "Chakwas can be a pain in the ass, I swear she acts like my mother."

Joker laughed and Urla chuckled loudly at this. "Do you have parents to be notified of your situation Urla?"

"No sir." She sighed. "They died in the Idenna incident."

The pilot shook his head sadly but then grinned. "Well, we got rid of that scum didn't we?"

Urla looked at him, surprised. "Mr. Moreau?"

"Oh please." Shepard smirked. "Call him that again and I will start calling the guy old man."

"Very funny John." The other human shook his head at the Commander's antics. "You can call me Joker, Urla. You have every right to do so."

Her eyes widened and turned away, making Shepard chuckle. "Alright, I will leave you two so that the therapy continues and Urla," Shepard smiled. "Think about it okay?"

"I already said yes."

"Yeah, I was just watching if you were paying attention."

Everyone in the room laughed, with Shepard leaving, feeling pleased with himself on the way as he heard Joker and Urla chuckling.

* * *

><p>Admiral Daro watched, amused, as Shepard tried to barter with a quarian on her ship. Their meeting was scheduled to be there, with Raan, Rael and Gerrel on their way. Shepard thought he could go shopping, probably in delusion of getting great technology out of it.<p>

"Hey, I am asking for omni tools, not a goddamn super computer."

"Humans." The quarian hissed. "So cheap and selfish."

"You know what?" Shepard's stance hardened. "You can keep this and shove it up your-"

"Commander, I think your poor behavior must stop now, don't want you to get into the meeting being accused of insubordination." Daro smoothly interrupted and, most likely, saved the quarian barter from a lash of words.

John huffed. "Whatever, I was getting tired of trying to trade with an idiot."

"Hey!" The other quarian yelled. "I am standing here, you alien!"

The admiral sent a fierce glare to the vendor. "That will be enough Enko!"

"Yes ma'am." He cowered immediately.

Daro shook her head and glared at John. "What was that racket about?"

"That chump head was trying to screw me over with stuff I could have stolen from a dead vorcha at Omega." Shepard turned. "You hear me? A dead vorcha!" He yelled, playfully though, just to tease the highly esteemed admiral with him.

She sighed in annoyance at his shenanigans.

The human swore that the quarian vendor glared daggers at him, enough to destroy his head, but Daro huffed and motioned for him to continue on the way to the room where the meeting was set to take place. Her actions were enough to straighten him out.

"So…" He began, away from prying eyes and ears. "Enjoyed our kissing session?"

"If you call that kissing, I am sadly disappointed."

Shepard smirked. "You think so? For a second there, I thought I was kissing a virgin."

"Enough John!" To say she didn't like to think of him sharing himself with other females was an understatement, but hid it well.

He raised his hands in mock surrender. "Fine, fine."

Shepard grinned beneath his helmet while the admiral huffed again, for the second time of the day. She was fighting the urge to smack him in the head.

Finally, they entered the room, not really large, the door closing immediately. Daro began typing some commands on her omni tool while Shepard took a seat, his feet on the table.

"Wish I had a cigar right now." The Commander commented as he eyed the room. He saw a couple of chairs, a big table, a terminal and a window that showed him countless other ships in space.

Daro turned, frowning. "Please, John, don't say or do anything stupid in front of them. I am quite aware that Gerrel has taken a liking on you, but Rael and Raan are a different story."

"Ah Raan." He looked at her. "Isn't she Tali's honorary aunt or something like that?"

"Precisely." Daro frowned, but quickly suppressed a pang of jealousy at his knowledge of Tali's life. "I am sure you don't want to embarrass yourself in front of the most powerful woman in this fleet."

"Thought that was you honey?"

The admiral stared at him, the human term of endearment foreign to her, but amusing all the same. "No." She smirked. "For now."

"That's my Daro."

Shepard chuckled as she turned away, but he knew she was smiling.

"The admirals will be here in about thirty minutes." She turned to him again. "Any ideas in order to get rid of the boredom primate?"

The human tapped his chin, as if in deep thought. "Hmm, well, I thought of making out with you, then about sex, then about having a drink, then about beating something up, so you can pick one if you like." He teased.

"Eh, we should just talk then."

Shepard laughed at her flustered state. He had been teasing her mercilessly since meeting her in the Moreh.

"So, about Urla." He cleared his throat. "What do you suggest? Keep her in the Normandy or have her stay in this ship?"

Daro was annoyed. "Didn't I tell you before? I have some of the best doctors to care for her here in the ship."

"Yeah, but she will be bound to stay in a damn room for the rest of her life." He sighed. "I am already working on some cybernetics for her, it will be difficult, but I have the resources."

"You know how to do them?" She asked, very impressed.

He snorted. "What? Me? Nah, I am too smart for that. I am more into combat, after all."

"Of course, sorry, forgot you were a primate for a second." She teased.

John chuckled. "Okay, so I gave her the choice to, either stay on my ship and serve in it, while waiting for the cybernetics, or get here and let your doctors do the work."

"While I abhor the chance of having someone that can't do much here…." She turned to see Shepard tensing at her words. "I would be happy to help her."

He growled. "Sure, since you hate having cripples."

Daro sighed. "John, you have to understand that in this ship, everyone works, at the double. How can someone without legs do that?"

"Well, being the smartass I am, I came up with a job for her within three damn seconds, why can't you super scientist genius?"

She could see this going to a full shouting match. There were approximately fifteen minutes before the admirals arrived. Daro understood Shepard. She had grown to care for his selflessness after all, but she had to stop this.

"Okay, I understand John, just tell me what she decides to do."

He shrugged and turned away.

Daro knew he was upset. "John, you have to be at your best when the admirals get here."

"You don't have to say it more than twice, I heard you enough."

He then stared at the door, his eyes blazing. Daro sighed and sat down on her own chair.

'_Keelah, this is ridiculous.' _She thought as the admiral rolled her eyes. _'We behave like a married couple.'_

"You know…" John broke the silence. "Once the admirals are gone, would you like me to rent a shower here in this dump of a ship?"

The admiral stiffened. "First of all, my ship is not a dump and second, I am running a fever from our… get to know each other session."

"Too bad, might as well do it with someone else then." He teased but once he heard her growl softly, the human smirked and turned away.

Daro turned to him. "The Admirals are here, I expect you to behave." She said coldly.

"Just shut the hell up and let me do the talking." He replied just as coldly.

Less than a minute after their exchange, Admirals Raan, Rael, Gerrel and Zaal entered. Judging by their body language, Raan was nervous, both Rael and Gerrel calm, and Zaal annoyed. _'This looks interesting.' _

Admiral Rael positioned himself in the center of the room and said, "We have called this meeting to come to terms after that little racket in the Rayya."

"Little?" Admiral Zaal snorted. "Cerberus brought here by none other than _Commander _Shepard. I am not amused by the use of the term little."

John was well aware of Zaal. Daro informed him of his nearly annoying personality. When she informed him of his stance on the geth, Shepard dubbed him "the wanker."

"It's _Captain_ Shepard, Zaal." Gerrel corrected smoothly. "And he did provide us with very much needed supplies and creds with the bounties the Alliance held on those operatives."

Daro smirked beneath her helmet. Gerrel was indeed impressed with John.

"I do not know why your daughter is serving in that ship, Rael." Zaal protested. "It looks like she is aligned with Cerberus itself."

Shepard flinched and wanted to lash at the admiral, but kept his calm. "Admiral, you are well aware, like Admiral Gerrel pointed out earlier, that I have… come to terms with these Cerberus operatives. My ship is clean by the way, thanks to your engineers."

Admiral Raan nodded. "Yes Captain, Tali'Zorah just sent us a report of their findings, it is shocking of how many bugs and traps were set on that ship."

"This meeting." Rael interrupted smoothly. "Was called for you, Captain Shepard, to explain your so called 'Alliance' with the Migrant Fleet, is this true?"

"Why would Admiral Daro lie to you? She doesn't seem like the type to me." The human retorted with a calm voice, which made the mentioned admiral smile. "Yes, it is true."

"Why?" Raan questioned in a soft voice. "Why do this when you have the Council and the Alliance?"

Shepard titled his head to the side, amused. "I thought you guys were in touch of what happened out there." He chuckled at their annoyed stances. "I was betrayed."

"Betrayed?" Gerrel asked. "How?"

The human looked at Daro. "Let's just say an individual here in this very room helped me realize it, not to mention point me in the right path."

Both Raan and Zaal flinched, but Gerrel and Rael kept their composure. Daro looked curious.

"As you may know, I died and was brought back by those damn terrorists with over four billion credits invested in me, using the best of advanced medical equipment."

Zaal shook his head. "That is impossible! Revived? Brought back? One human?"

"Admiral Koris." Daro interrupted. "You are aware that Shepard saved the Council and destroyed more geth units than us in years. Not to mention he thwarted the geth's efforts in taking the Citadel."

The wanker kept his mouth shut at that, making Shepard grin.

"Thanks for the compliments, but I wouldn't have done that with my team, especially Tali'Zorah by acting like her people, courageous and being the technological genius she is. She hacked more geth than any Spectre or STG agent would have dreamed of." Shepard turned to look at Rael. "I am quite aware of your lessons and training, they were invaluable for my mission, thank you." He bowed his head, smirking at the shocked look of Rael.

"Nothing to thank for, Captain Shepard." Rael straightened, proud. "I only expected the best from her."

"Did the geth data prove useful?"

At this question, Zaal interrupted. "This meeting was called for the situation right now, not about any data or the geth."

"Shepard, would you like to tell us how were you betrayed then?" Rael changed the subject, annoyed at Zaal but impressed with Shepard already. Gerrel certainly did not lie about him.

"All of my work, effort and sweat was taken down and destroyed. The Alliance, being the…. hmmm, how may I put it? The kissing ass government agreed with the Council that I was a liar, crazy and wrong. They also accused me of being fairer towards aliens, which may be true."

"Why am I not surprised?" Gerrel joked. "That blasted Council and their politics."

'_Right… and here there is no political bullshit at all?' _Shepard smirked. "Indeed, they were very interested in shutting me up. You know, for a second, I thought they were the ones that killed me, but now I know it was the Collectors who did the job."

"Collectors?" Rael scoffed slightly. "They are a tale Shepard, Cerberus must have used them to get you in their circle, and you abandoned them for a reason, why should we believe you?"

Shepard smiled. "I heard some interesting facts about them. Veetor must have provided one hell of a video right?"

All admirals, except for Daro, flinched. "Ah, I was right wasn't I? In the end, here it is. They are very interested in humans, making entire colonies vanish within a few hours. They are also very powerful, their technology is beyond impressive." He then made a few adjustments to his omni tool. "A friend of mine, and you know her very well, has something that may interest you."

The door opened and in walked Tali, holding in her hands some kind of weapon. Rael immediately looked at his daughter.

"What is that my child?"

Tali stood right beside Shepard, her chest puffed out in pride. "This is a Collector beam, Shepard recovered some from Horizon, a colony that was almost wiped out by these monsters." She placed it in the huge table. "It is a gift of Shepard to the Migrant Fleet."

Like children, both Rael and Gerrel eyed the weapon. Daro just watched it with polite interest, as she was already provided one by Shepard not too long ago.

"Impressive." Rael mumbled while Zaal rolled his eyes. "Have you used one Shepard?"

He nodded. "Yes, Tali can give you the results from her omni tool, one of the best heavy weapons I've ever had the pleasure of using in the battlefield."

Rael nodded at the human and then looked at his daughter, who was fumbling with her omni tool. The head admiral got a small smile. Tali was so much like her mother, curious, polite, hard working and now a hero. Delmia would have been so proud.

All admirals looked at their omni tools. Gerrel's eyes widened while Raan gasped. Zaal pretended to not be impressed. The remaining admiral kept staring at Shepard, who was quietly talking to Tali.

"This is very, very impressive Captain." Rael nodded. "You sure you want to give this to us?"

Shepard chuckled. "Let me get you one thing straight, these two women, Tali'Zorah and Daro'Xen, have opened my mind regarding the quarian people and what they have to offer." He smirked. "As long as you promise me that some geth will be destroyed, this is yours."

Gerrel was feeling ecstatic, so much he was smiling like when he got his first suit. Rael was simply watching Shepard curiously, perplexed by the so called 'Geth Slayer.' Zaal simply kept quiet. Raan was looking at Tali and Shepard with interest while Daro did the same.

"Why Shepard?" Zaal questioned, again. "Why help us? You may have been betrayed by your Alliance and then the Council, but why ally yourself with us?"

Shepard shook his head. "I thought you were smart Admiral." Zaal was about to retort when John held a hand. "You are technological geniuses, as well as engineering wizards, I am expecting your weapons to improve, your technology to advance and you helping me when the time comes."

"Help for what?" Raan asked quietly.

John sighed. "Ever heard of the Reapers? Come on, I babbled about it back when I was a Spectre!" He joked, earning a chuckle from both Tali and Daro.

"We have Shepard, and certainly, the geth could have not constructed something of those proportions to take the Citadel." Gerrel pointed out at a hologram of Sovereign. "Rael here was always curious about it."

"Yes, since the geth fleet was wiped out by the Alliance, but then they were almost wiped out themselves by this…. ship. Not even the geth possess that kind of technology." Rael agreed.

Daro scoffed. "Looks like the Council and the Alliance still hold firm that the geth are capable of producing those ships. I pity them."

Shepard smirked. _'Why, thank you for the compliment Daro.' _He thought.

"Alright then, your terms Shepard for this 'Alliance' of sorts?" Rael questioned, but he was already thinking of what excuses to say in order to reject them.

"You will inform me of any strange movement of the Collectors, provide me with the quarian crew I requested, and updates on your technological experiments regarding this weapon I just provided and to help me in the future should the need arise."

Silence.

Gerrel cleared his throat. "I suggest we vote on this." Omni tools raised, the admirals typed a few commands.

"Four against one, we approve of this alliance with Captain Shepard, however, we will not be able to help you against any government, just pirates, slavers and… the Collectors." Rael said firmly.

John smirked. "Wouldn't have expected any less admirals, thank you for your time and hope your research goes well."

As both Shepard and Tali walked away, Rael raised his voice, "Shepard, if you could talk to me, in private please?"

Shrugging, the human nodded and excused himself from Tali, with said quarian woman giving a curious glance at her father and captain. They walked to a secluded tunnel a little far away from the room where the meeting took place.

Finally, they were alone, no people around. "Shepard, I must know the real reason of you acting like a saint around us."

Shepard smirked. "You heard it on my terms."

"There must be something else… why did you turn against Cerberus? They are very rich and powerful, why would you betray them? It troubles me that you have turned your back on them and your own government, not to mention the Council itself."

Anger coursed through Shepard at this blatant accusation. "You expect me to turn my back on the only people that deserve my attention? You probably are aware of the war crimes those so called 'human freedom fighters' have done in the past. My attention has just focused elsewhere since those governments betrayed ME, I did not even move a finger."

"And you deal with us because we are different I suppose."

Shepard sighed. "Why do you think two of my best friends are quarians?"

"Daro and my daughter I assume?"

"You guessed right." He said through gritted teeth.

The admiral saw the human's body language and knew he had crossed the line. "Alright Shepard, I believe you, and I apologize for my questioning, but I have to take care of my people from possible threats."

John nodded, albeit reluctantly. "I understand, but don't take it out on me; I don't take it out on quarians because their ancestors created the geth."

The admiral was pleased with that answer. He nodded and started walking away.

'_What could they have done to cause him to be so angry at them?' _

* * *

><p>"Our destination is Illium, so Joker, get your ass over there and lead us out of here."<p>

The pilot smiled. "What? Too much politics?"

"Yup." Shepard said simply. "These guys are cool compared to the Council though, I swear I had brain damage from the meetings with them."

Joker laughed and nodded. His face then got serious. "John, when are you going to reveal EDI to the rest of the quarian crew? Kal is having a hard time already."

"I know." Shepard sighed. "Once we are far away from the fleet, I will call a meeting in the cargo hold for them to listen."

The other human smirked. "Have Grunt close to you, who knows what those quarians will do once you get them to meet EDI."

"I am getting Kal to quell those fears, no worries."

Shepard chuckled quietly and watched, amused, as Chakwas berated Urla for exercising too much. Her wounds were already closed, but the pain was still there. She was now gaining upper body strength on so her time on a wheelchair will not be too hard.

"Why Illium? If I can ask John..." That grin on Joker was dangerous.

The commander narrowed his eyes. "What do you have in mind Joker?"

"Oh nothing…" He whistled. "We just got rid of Cerberus, visited your love nest and now we are going where she lives."

"Who?"

"Come on John, you can't be an idiot about it."

"Ah, you meant Liara? Well, the idiot of the Illusive Man told me she was an information broker now, and we need money."

Joker laughed, hard. "So, visiting a friend or a contact?"

"Both." Shepard grinned. Joker was one of his best friends; he was on par with Garrus since both seemed to have antics prepared for almost anything.

Shepard cleared his throat. "Alright, you get us to Illium and I will go make my rounds, also prepare for the screaming festival in the cargo hold."

The pilot nodded with a grin as he slowly walked away. "Go easy on them."

Kal shook his head as he cleared a Vindicator in the table. These weapons were really fine quality, probably tainted of blood from the scores Cerberus has killed.

He also felt observed sometimes. Shepard had told him that all bugs were taken off thanks to the new quarian crew. Even then, though, he felt observed, like if someone was watching him from the shadows.

Tired and hungry, he spun around. "Alright, who is there?"

He then heard a sigh. Eyes widening by the second, he saw a petite human stepping out of the shadows, a small smile on her face. "Geez, I am getting rusty."

"Who are you?" Kal tilted his head to the side. "I haven't seen you before."

She grinned. "Kasumi Goto, at your service." She bowed mockingly. "I assume you are the Quarian Rambo?"

'_What the hell is a Rambo?' _He cleared his throat. "Eh, I don't know what a Rambo is, but I am Kal'Reegar, third in command of the Normandy."

"I know who you are." She grinned. "Shepard sent me to retrieve you."

"What? To where?"

"To the cargo hold, there is a meeting for the new quarian crew."

He nodded. "Okay, let me get rid of these weapons and then we can go."

The quarian proceeded to put the remaining rifles on the table, all in order while the human leaned against the door, humming something that felt… relaxing.

"Alright, I'm done." He turned around. "It is nice meeting you Goto."

"Please call me Kasumi, and I will call you Kal, don't think you want to be Reegar right?"

Kal was amused by this human. "Yeah, I think I want to be called Kal, it is my name after all."

"Good, then we can go, come on."

Kasumi smiled and used her head to point at the elevator. Kal nodded and walked with her.

* * *

><p>The Illusive Man saw this coming. He knew Shepard was going to do something smart against him, and he did with so much efficiency it impressed him. Entire ship cleaned and then EDI refused to follow commands all of a sudden. Truly, Shepard was a force to be reckoned with.<p>

Of course, he was not angry at this change of events. For the contrary, this will carve a path to an alliance of sorts where Shepard will have to respect him. In the end, they were both fighting against the same enemy, so it will be a matter of time.

He will have to contact the commander and take him back. This move only served to not only impress the Illusive Man, but also to never underestimate Shepard again. Indeed, he will need his best operative to take something from the former Spectre if he ignored the email he sent. If Shepard does listen and goes against the Broker, then… he may get an alliance with him.

'_You may cost me a lot Shepard, but I am a patient man, and I know you will try to contact me_.' He thought as he took a drag from his cigarette. The pitiful fools in the Alliance and the Council had done nothing more than stab him in the back, so now his only allies were his crew and quite possibly the quarians.

"Martha." He called. "Please bring Operative Leng to my office, its urgent."

"Yes sir."

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><p><strong>Well, there it is. Hope you guys enjoyed reading, as I most certainly did writing it. Thanks. R&amp;R!<strong>


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Some people seem to think that Tali is very soft and all of that jazz, but here, we will see a more mischievous side of her. Also, this is an AU, so expect a lot of changes from now on. Thank you for reading, hope you enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

><p>Shepard chuckled as Tali kept imitating the Illusive Man. He knew that goddamn bastard was fuming right now but he was going to Illium due to the recently interesting email he got from Liara, so he did not give a damn.<p>

"Humanity Shepard! It's all about humanity!" Tali exclaimed in a deep voice, making both Shepard and Joker laugh out loud. "Humanity is under attack!"

"Alright, I got it." Joker chuckled. "I got to imitate one of your admirals to make Urla laugh, she has been getting tired of my jokes to be honest."

"Tired of your jokes? Now that is something no one here expected." John pointed at Joker. "How could you? You are embarrassing the human name with our precious quarians."

When Shepard said the last sentence, Tali blushed deeply. "So John, we are going to see Liara?"

"Yup." The commander nodded. "She is an information broker according to Porn Artist here, so we may strike a deal to get the necessary funds for the mission."

"Hey! That's what it said on the files!" Joker's eyes widened. "Did you just call me a Porn Artist?"

"Got EDI to track your searches in the extranet, surprisingly, you looked for the following…." Shepard mockingly frowned at the datapad as Joker gulped while Tali leaned her elbows, interested. "Asari twin porn, human porn, Horny Citadel's Greatest Hits, how does a quarian look like, Drell Female's Red Vacation…. wow, those last two are amusing indeed…"

Tali had been blushing since the beginning, but when she heard of his question of how quarians looked like, she went crimson red as Shepard threw her a smirk. That maddening smirk she oh so much both hated and enjoyed seeing on the human's face.

"Ms. Zorah?" Shepard chuckled when she growled slightly at him. "Prepare your stuff, you, Garrus and Kal will be going with me to recruit these people, on the double woman!"

"_Commander Shepard_." She began sweetly. "Should I install those bugs in your shower again?"

The human sighed, but a shadow of a grin was on his face. "And you also have a shotgun, yes, I know…" He shook his head with a smile on his face. "Women…"

"That's right." She bumped her elbow with his. "We are dangerous."

"Alien women are good they said…" Tali blushed as Shepard continued. "It will be fun they said."

Joker laughed so loud some of the quarian shipmates snapped their eyes to the human pilot, shocked at the volume of his mouth.

The other human smirked at the quarians. "What? Never heard of humor before? Back to work!"

* * *

><p>"I already hate this planet." Shepard muttered as he stepped out of the Normandy. "Too damn hot."<p>

Garrus smirked. "Oh, but I heard the alcohol here was good John, how about we visit the nearest bar after talking to Liara?"

"Sounds good." The commander grinned. "Kal, prepare yourself, it's time to let the wild man inside of you out."

The quarian marine, amused, turned to his fellow quarian. "Ma'am, should I be afraid?"

"Very." She began as they walked towards an asari in nice clothes, waving at them. "These two have terrorized the bars and clubs of space since Saren."

After that exchange, they were welcomed by the asari who, much to Tali's annoyance, was staring at Shepard and smiling way too much. The turian friend of theirs elbowed John while Kal just blinked, clearly lost in the ordeal happening in front of him.

"Hope you enjoy your stay and please, if you need anything, you know where to find me now."

John smiled. "Why, thank you Careena, I hope we see each other again." He said charmingly.

The asari smiled shyly and nodded, leaving the group, along with her mechs.

"Still a dog." Garrus commented.

The human smirked. "Hey, it isn't my fault women come to my feet."

"You did say that asari weren't your style."

The group continued to walk towards Liara's office. "The fact that other alien women seem that much more beautiful it's just me I guess."

"Like turians?"

Shepard snorted. "I always confuse the females with the males, it's utterly embarrassing, until I hear their voice, of course."

"No wonder you were revived by Cerberus, racist bastard." The turian joked.

"Garrus, I am not into turians, honest man here, just doesn't make my style, when one ends up liking me, I will hopefully be married."

Kal chuckled. "I never saw you as a man who would end up married."

"Ah Kal, you are here? Welcome back!" Shepard grinned. "What about you? Lady back home?"

The quarian male shook his head. "No sir, been too busy with my marines."

Shepard's eyes widened, then a grin appeared on his face. Tali saw that brief twinkle in his eyes and groaned. She knew what was coming up next. John had no mercy on things like this.

"Don't tell me you swing the other way?"

Kal tilted his head to the side. "Not sure I follow sir."

The human rolled his eyes. "Do you like other men?"

"Oh no!" Kal put his hands up, surprised. "Of course not!"

"Why? You said you were busy with your marines." Garrus laughed out loud at Shepard's refusal to let the thing down.

Tali had to stop this before Kal could be munched to pieces by the Geth Slayer himself. "John, stop it now! That is enough!"

"Why? It's fun!" He whined mockingly.

As Tali was about to reply, a turian bumped with her. almost sending her to the ground. "_Fucking_ suit rat."

Oh she was mad at the comment, but someone beat her to it. Her eyes widened at the words that came out of her best friend's mouth.

"Hey you, come here!" Shepard growled as the turian turned. "Yes, I am talking to you, piece of shit."

The turian walked angrily towards the group, Shepard protectively shielding Tali while the other two males were at their side, ready for any eventuality.

"You called me primate?"

"Yes I did." Shepard approached, fists balling and his temper flaring. "Apologize to her and then to me."

The turian spat in his face with a, "No."

Suddenly, he was pushed down by blue energy. He was now kneeling on the floor, gasping. "Like a good _dog_, you now bow at my feet." Shepard smirked arrogantly as he spat. "Now you fool, apologize to us or I will paint these floors with your brain."

"…S-sorry." The turian could barely speak at the pain from the biotics making him feel like he was carrying a ton of metal on his backside. Stupid human race, always thinking they could own the galaxy.

"That a doggie." Shepard smirked, patting his head. "Off you go shit-head, don't want a _useless_ _pet_ anyway."

Growling but keeping his head down, the turian left, throwing curses under his mouth, making Tali chuckle and Garrus smirk. Kal just shook his head slowly, in shock at the events that had just unfolded before his eyes. _'Shepard is insane.'_

"That deserved a ten alright." Garrus commented as they resumed walking, now most people keeping out of their way. "Nice show off by the way."

"John, please keep your antics to yourself, we don't want a diplomatic incident." Tali tried to speak seriously but she was so amused and, flattered, that her body radiated happiness. Garrus deduced that the clueless bastard of Shepard felt it, which was a damn, bloody miracle.

The human snorted. "Yeah, a human, a turian and two quarians, heavily armed for your information, are not enough for a diplomatic incident on Illium, known for being a good looking Omega."

"Oh shush John, you talk too much."

Garrus and Kal chuckled as Shepard scowled at Tali, who held a triumphal smirk beneath her visor, though by her body language, she was happy. Kal noticed with renewed interest how his fellow quarian swayed her hips ever so slightly when Shepard was looking at her. The commander looked hypnotized, mesmerized, shocked and even intrigued…

* * *

><p>Daro sighed as she ran the diagnostics again, double checking if the pulse was working. Indeed, it was. A smirk appeared on her face once this was done.<p>

She nodded at herself, resting now in her chair. _'Soon, Rannoch, very soon.'_

After centuries of exile, her people were set to fight back. Of course, her plans were… contradicting the other two warmongers. They both wanted the complete destruction of the geth, and ensue their demise through any means necessary.

Admiral Daro'Xen could not blame them. Those synthetics drove her race to near extinction, something Shepard constantly ranted about when given the question. Daro was a little saddened at his views, at first. However, when she gave him the hypothetical question of getting the geth as…. servants, he asked that "Would give me the excuse to order them to fall off a cliff right? Amusing don't you think?"

She laughed out loud at his antics, but he did sound… interested. Daro knew Shepard would fight tooth and nail against anything in his path to gain geth servitude and a new galactic power, the reformed Quarians.

Everyone, even herself, knew how ambitious John was. He could rival and hold his own against her ambitions. The fact that he was able to get rid of Cerberus but then gain a new ally in the Migrant Fleet impressed her greatly. Shepard was for sure a genius at military matters, but he was also now a political animal.

Daro turned to her data pad and scowled. Stupid Gerrel and Zorah, always meddling around in her business, it constantly annoyed her. _'Those two… damn warmongers could be really counterproductive.'_

Of course they were dangerous. They were playing with the lives of seventeen million people, and she did not like that. Her mission was the safety of the fleet first and foremost, not plan a stupid war that could end with her people extinct. Rael's antics on his ship, the Alerei, did trouble her. He could end up being first than her…

'_Shepard would not allow that.' _Smirking, she knew that the troublesome Commander would nuke the geth if need be to save her or delay Rael just to fill her wishes. Oh yes, she felt selfish about him. Just like any female in the galaxy, quarians did not share their lovers. Tali, the cock…. what was that human word Shepard loved to use on asari?

'_Cockblocker.' _She laughed at herself. Daro then frowned. Remembering Rael's extreme interest in Shepard unnerved her. Her fellow admirals, Gerrel and Zorah, were planning something. If it involved getting John for their war….

She clenched her fists. The captain of the Moreh would never, ever allow Shepard to fall in their ploys. It was obvious that these two idiots would use the human for their own agenda. Raan was damn smart, always keeping neutral unless the situation required her opinion. She did speak of Shepard in high regard, probably thanks to Tali'Zorah and her childish crush.

On the other hand, there was Zaal'Koris, who John disliked the moment he saw him. Daro noticed how Shepard glared at the admiral during their meeting. She could not blame the commander, Koris was a nuisance that needed to be dealt with in the future. John had said he could create an 'unfortunate accident,' but she knew he was joking. Maybe in the future, there could be an accident.

There was also something very strange with Han'Gerrel. Before, during and after Shepard's stay on the fleet, he kept glancing at her, his calculating eyes staring her down. She had made sure there were no witnesses when she took John for their… private time. And, of course, clean rooms were clean of security cameras and the like, it was law after all. If he knew…. she shook her head. _'No, he doesn't, probably trying to intimidate me.'_

He was going to fight against a blackhole, it seemed. Daro smirked. She was known as the Ice Admiral for a reason. Only Shepard and a few selected others had seen her more…. warm side one could say.

'_Hmmm, talking about that primate and his unimaginable levels of hate towards others…where could he be right now?'_

* * *

><p>Tali shook her head at Shepard's impatience. He was about to go on a tirade with the asari secretary.<p>

"Lady, I am expected to see Miss T'Soni, so tell her to hurry up." He grumbled.

She frowned. "I already did sir, would you please wait for a minute at the least?"

The human growled but did not reply. Oh how he hated waiting, especially when he knew that his asari friend had money and he needed some. The Migrant Fleet was not able to provide anything other than the crew he had, so he was grateful with that at the least.

As soon as he took leaned on the wall and was about to talk to Garrus, EDI chimed in. "Shepard, the Illusive Man wishes to speak with you."

In the name of all demons in hell, what the hell was wrong with him? Couldn't the Cerberus leader take a hint?

"Tell him he can go suck one."

There was a momentary silence before EDI replied. "He says he has very important information regarding the Collectors and would like to talk to you in private as soon as possible."

If there was one thing John Arthur Shepard hated, it was depending on someone. Cerberus had the resources necessary for the mission to succeed, but their stupidity got them here. First assigning that useless soldier, Jacob, then the whore spy, Miranda. John was baffled as to how the Illusive Man let the bitch wander off in battle on high heels and not wearing proper armor.

"Fine." He growled. "Tell the idiot I will talk to him in two hours."

"Affirmative."

His friend, Garrus, looked at him with a questioning gaze, while Tali fiddled with her omni tool. Kal, always the uptight soldier, was standing at attention close to the turian.

Shepard nodded at his best friend. "Will fill you in as soon as this goddamn meeting is done."

The turian seemed to take the hint, smirking at the commander in his usual cocky way.

"Commander." Nyxeris said, getting the squad's attention. "Miss T'Soni is ready to see you."

"About fucking time." The human walked towards the door. "I was about to die, _again_."

Puzzled at his last words but shaking her head, she nodded at him as the group entered. While they did so, she smirked. Her real boss would find this very fortuitous.

As they entered, Shepard saw Liara talking to a bald human.

"Have you seen an asari commando unit before? Few humans have." The asari said maliciously while the human in the screen gulped in fear.

Shepard rolled his eyes. _'I did and they are all dead, of course.'_

"I'll make it simple. Either you pay me or I flay you alive, with my mind." She finished as the screen vanished.

The commander actually scowled at the last comment. He hated those mind melds with Liara back when fighting Saren, those headaches drove him insane.

"That was the most awful performance I've seen in years, you are still too soft to be feared." Shepard threw in with a smirk. Garrus and Tali chuckled while Kal just stood there, not getting the joke. Even he had a little fear for the asari in front of him.

Liara turned around, surprised. "Shepard!" She then nodded at Nyxeris. "Hold my calls, please."

The secretary bowed slowly and left.

Information broker or not, she was still too soft for Shepard. She threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly. John stiffened and awkwardly patted her back. "Good to see you too Liara."

Tali felt uncomfortable at the asari hugging the human, but when she saw Shepard not returning the hug… she smirked. Walking to stand closer to John, she nodded at Liara.

"It is great to see you Tali, Garrus and…" She eyed the other quarian, who stared at her. "Who are you?"

"Kal'Reegar ma'am."

She nodded. "Nice to meet you."

Finally, they all took a seat while Liara shook her head. "My sources said you were alive, I never believed… it is really good to see you again."

"Indeed, it is good to be back." He tilted his head to the side. "_My sources _tell me you have… an awful lot of creds…"

"Yes, becoming an information broker has surely paid off the bills ever since you…" Liara trailed off and saw Tali stiffen. Even Garrus looked uncomfortable. "Yes, I have."

"Good, then I have a proposal." Shepard leaned on his chair, hands behind his head. "Cerberus has been all but screwed over by me and these people you see in the room, we are basically rejects heh."

"Rejects?"

"Yes, neither the Alliance nor Cerberus want anything to do with me. I am sure as hell those three… eh four stooges in the Council don't want anything to do with me either."

Liara frowned. "I figured as much, they have been tearing down all your work since the first Normandy was destroyed. You have no allies Shepard."

"Oh but you underestimate me." The human smirked arrogantly. "I already have the Migrant Fleet lined up as an ally of sorts, they will keep their eyes open and support me if need be against possible threats from the mercenary groups or hell, maybe even the Collectors."

Nodding, she offered a small smile. "Very good Shepard, it seems politics suits you."

"God, don't say that again, please." At the commander's groan, the three people with him laughed, with Liara only chuckling.

"Well Shepard, you must be here for a reason." Her tone turned colder. "What is it that you need and what was your proposal?"

"I need money, that much is obvious, I gotta pay these bastards…" At Tali's glare, he chuckled. "And lady to fight, and as such, well, thought I could use your help."

"Hmm, well yes, sure, I will provide a sum of funds that will leave you well off for a while. In exchange, I would like for you to help me with something in the future."

"Ah?"

"I do not have much information right now, but what you can know is that this could change the shape of the galaxy as we know it."

Shepard rolled his eyes. "Do you asari have a fetish on riddles?"

The asari blushed slightly while Garrus laughed. "You have to understand Shepard, as soon as I have more information, you will be the first to know."

"Whatever." He waved her off. "Also, I need information regarding Thane Krios and Samara, an asari justicar."

Liara typed on her terminal, nodding at some information, but shaking her head at times too. "Thane Krios, rumored to be the best assassin in the galaxy. He has a contact here, name is Seryna, her office is located the transfer cargo levels."

"Good, good." Shepard clasped his hands together. "And now, what of the justicar?"

"She arrived recently and checked in with Officer Dara, who is at the transportation levels currently. That is all I have."

He raised an eyebrow. "And the money?"

"It is being transferred to a separate bank account of mine, you will have full access to it, here." She moved her omni tool left and right. "There it is, you have the code and number, be careful."

John was very unnerved by her cold behavior but let it slide. "Yeah, thank you, now with this, I can live a happily ever after, right guys?"

The group chuckled as Liara only stared. Tali huffed and turned around without saying a goodbye to her _former _asari friend.

Shepard stopped suddenly and eyed Liara. "Why is Thane here? Who is his target?"

"Nassana Dantius, your old friend." John scowled at that bit of information. "Apparently, she messed with a very powerful human, and she is holding her child for ransom. His name is Henry Lawson."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Did I mention that this was a full blown AU?  
><strong>

**On a side note, please keep in mind that this fic will NOT follow Mass Effect 3's events. Canon should have effectively ended at Shepard's betrayal on Cerberus a couple of chapters ago. Thank you to the people reviewing, subscribing, favoring etc, hope you still find the time to review. Thanks again and remember, R&R!  
><strong>


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Well, I am back. This story is continuing for sure, as the one of Rome is. However, since college has begun once again, the updates will be kind of slow. Despite that, this story has big plans. Word of advice, this will get darker, so watch out for the rating later on, it may go up to M. Thanks to the people reviewing and asking for me to continue this story, it is a privilege to be writing for such a good audience.**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter. Also, it is already decided if there will be a threesome or not. It will be implied later on, just throwing it out there.**

* * *

><p>Shepard could not believe it. Henry freaking Lawson was involved with Thane Krios. Lawson was one of the most powerful men in the Alliance. And, in addition… the father of Miranda, the Cerberus agent and currently, an Alliance prisoner.<p>

"How much do you think he will pay us if we give him the girl back?" John asked his group of misfits.

Garrus shrugged. "Honestly? No clue, but we will get two things at the same time, like you humans say, both money and the drell assassin."

"Two birds with one stone genius."

"Hmm, close enough."

The other two quarians chuckled at the interaction. The group was now moving to the nearest bar, as both Shepard and Garrus had complained that Tali was running them dry.

"If I am going to take on that bitch Nassana, I need to be shit faced at the least before it happens." He had said to Kal, who just outright laughed.

Shepard whistled as they entered the bar. "Well, it looks good."

The establishment was small, but comfortable. A human was currently leading the charge on getting his alien friends a stripper show, which they did not complain about, especially the turian, who muttered how humans were great with parties and alcohol. Garrus had to nod at that.

On the left, there was a quarian with an asari, both on a heated discussion. Right in front of them were a turian and a quarian, with the turian constantly flirting with the other? John scowled in disgust, assuming that it was flirting.

"Hey Garrus, get us some alcohol, you know me, strong." He then pointed at Tali, who was worriedly glancing at the quarian and asari's direction. "Tali, you and Kal get a table, on the double."

"_Yes, sir_." She replied mockingly. Tali and Kal then promptly left to find a table, but the female quarian turned around to see Shepard leaning on the sofa, talking quietly to the quarian, a smirk on his face. She growled low, annoyed and irritated at the scene.

Kal chuckled loudly while Garrus walked to their table, a frown on his face. "What are you laughing about?"

* * *

><p>"So… you are basically saying that, because your boyfriend was being an idiot, you had to break up with hm?" <em>'Women…'<em>

"No, no, he was just too paranoid and…. well, I have the suspicion he has been cheating on me."

"Human, stay out of this." The turian growled.

"You better watch your filthy mouth turian, you don't know who you are talking to." Shepard stared back defiantly, a smirk on his face.

The quarian sighed. "I don't know what to do, my friend here thought some alone time would be good after the break up."

"Some people are just blind." Shepard muttered. "Well, lady, first, what is your name?"

"Why don't you tell us your name first?" The turian shot back.

John smirked arrogantly. "Commander John Arthur Shepard, at your service." He bowed mockingly.

The quarian gasped while the turian narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Prove it."

"Okay." He then got out his loyal Mattock. "Why do you think I am allowed to carry weapons around?"

"Spectre?"

"Not necessarily, more like influence."

The quarian nodded slowly. After a moment of silence, she said, "Melia'Elarka Vas Nedas."

It was John's turn to nod, but in respect. "I hope everything is going well with you."

"Why do you say that?"

"Nedas, means you are not part of the fleet, exiled or the child of one."

Impressed, Melia tilted her head to the side. "And how do you know that?"

"I am best friends with two fine quarian ladies, not to mention more than half of my crew is quarian."

"Wow." The turian said simply, obviously shocked at the statement.

Shepard chuckled. "Yes, quite impressive for a human right?"

"But, you were dead sir." Melia replied.

"Quite, yes, but something extraordinary happened and here I am. Just thank your ancestors I am back to save your sorry asses from this fucked up galaxy."

"Well, it is a pleasure to see you again sir." Melia nodded, a little unnerved by the crude language of the human. "Now, what about my boyfriend?"

"Get another one."

"Excuse me?"

The turian was now watching Shepard with big, pleading eyes, something John did not miss but decided to ignore. _'Disgusting.'_

"There are many human males walking around here, and I know for certain they will like a beautiful specimen of the quarian race such as yourself."

Silence.

"So, you think I should wait for another boyfriend?"

"Who said anything about waiting? Sometimes, we males need to get a kick in the head to react, which would mean you look for him."

"….Alright."

"Look, Melia, I am trying to help. Besides, a human is way better than any other lover." He winked. "My past lovers can tell you that."

The quarian blushed. "I understand."

As soon as Shepard was about to retort, Tali came from behind, a fierce scowl on her face that no one could see.

"Hello Commander, who are these?" She gestured with her hand.

"Ah Tali, this is Melia, and that other idiot… I honestly don't have a clue, call him turian or something."

"Hey! My name is Serkoz!"

"Find the two fucks I give pal, I will forget your name in about five minutes." Shepard then smiled. "Besides, it's not me who doesn't notice that you have been friend-zoned…"

Melia jumped from her seat. "Tali? The Tali'Zorah?" She exclaimed, ignoring the commander's comment on her turian friend.

"Eh, yes?"

"Oh, how marvelous! The most famous quarian in the galaxy! It is such an honor to meet you!"

"Great, another Conrad Verner." Shepard muttered, annoyed.

Tali chuckled quietly. "Don't be jealous."

John made a "pfft" sound that sent Tali into a fit of giggles, forgetting why she was there in the first place.

"Eh, Miss Tali? Mr. Shepard? Could you… you know, give me your autographs?"

Laughing and teasing back and forth, the duo signed the autographs. "Don't forget Melia, a kick in the head, literally if need be."

"I know." She smiled. "Thank you for everything, I was considering going back with that jerk."

As they walked away, Tali nudged Shepard with her elbow. "That other quarian is having financial troubles."

"Who am I? Fucking Santa Claus?"

"Who?"

"That I am not here to purify my soul, Tali. I know I'm going to hell." _'Or I was there already right?… Meh, whatever.'_

"But you could fix the situation." She put a hand on his chest, then slowly moved to meet him head on. "You are Commander Shepard, the greatest soldier in the galaxy, you can do it, I'm sure of it."

That voice sent a chill down the human's spine. How could he deny that? "Fine, whatever."

She smirked. That talk with Raan was…. enlightening.

Tali nodded to herself and left to the table as Shepard walked towards the quarian and asari. She then skipped a glance at Melia, who was eying a human in the bar, his back to her as he was speaking to the bar hostess.

"How did it go?" Garrus asked.

"You sure drive Shepard around, right?" Kal smirked.

The daughter of Rael smirked right back. "Sometimes, it is needed if the situation requires it." Then she added. "But it is wrong, so this is the last time."

"Who would have thought that Tali got some of Shepard's influence and then used it against him!?" Garrus laughed.

Now that she thought about it, the turian was right. Tali had gained a vast amount of knowledge from Shepard, particularly sarcasm, blackmail and… recently, with the slight push of Raan, "motivation." It was such a better word than manipulation, but John had stressed to Tali that her selfless nature was wrong and that she needed to become selfish in some things.

She turned her head and saw Shepard putting a hand on the asari's shoulder. Now he was using positive influence, probably combined with a motivation…. Tali smirked. John may be a brute in some things, but in communication and manipulation, he was extremely skilled. He could say all he wanted about hating politics, but there he was, acting like a shrewd diplomat.

"Looks like Shepard is Mr. Fix It here." Garrus chuckled. "You think we should put a stand that says, We Solve Your Problems, quarians get a discount."

Kal laughed out loud. "Sounds like it, with ma'am here as the vice president."

The other quarian rolled her eyes at her friend's antics, her gaze still on Shepard. The man was now waving his hands while smoking a cigarette. Tali shook her head at his habit, but since he had new lungs…

Finally, the asari nodded at something Shepard had said, a bright smile on her lips. Tali assumed she had agreed to whatever the human had said. Even the quarian's body language talked of shock.

"Looks like Shepard did it." Kal commented as he sipped his canister beer on his helmet.

Garrus nodded. "Won't be surprising if he is going to get laid…" He looked at Tali, trying to see her reaction. The quarian woman did not do anything, surprising her turian friend.

She did not even hear him, closely paying attention to what Shepard was doing with the quarian woman. She was obviously nervous, but also quite happy by the looks of it. Tali assumed the situation was fixed.

Shepard then nodded at the quarian with a smile on his face, and with that, walked back to the table.

Within seconds, he sighed and said, "Garrus, you better have some tequila in there."

"Yup."

The commander took a shot and relaxed. "This is the last time I behave like a damn saint around in here."

"What happened?" Kal asked.

John smirked. "Looks like my reputation is still intact. The asari was happy to hear I would support her company through ads and shit, in exchange of letting the quarian go."

"But that would let her have hell from the law." Garrus argued.

"Nah, this planet is a beautiful Omega, anything can be solved with money, which will be provided by the ads and commercials."

Tali smiled. "So, what is going to happen with her?"

"The quarian? Ah, she will be fine, just jobless. She got into this shit, I helped her, she can help herself after."

Tali nodded. She wanted to frown upon his comment, but that was just Commander Shepard.

"Alright now, we will enjoy a few drinks, possibly pass out and let both Tali and Kal takes us into the Normandy, is that clear?"

"Understood sir." Kal chuckled. "Though I am not sure if I will be able to follow that order myself."

The other quarian just groaned. "Just like old times…."

* * *

><p>After a few hours, Tali had to bring reinforcements, meaning Grunt and Zaeed, who just laughed at their superior's antics. Garrus and Kal passed out while Shepard kept making sarcastic comments on the way to the Normandy, even flirting with several asari. Most frowned or scowled at him.<p>

The next day, however, the Commander was in a foul mood. He had been contacted by the Illusive Man. Shepard summoned Garrus to the meeting, as the turian was his second in command.

According to the rumors in the ship, Shepard had screamed and even thrown a tantrum just after the talk with the elusive leader of the terrorist organization was finished. His turian best friend advised the crew to stay as far away from the dangerous biotic as possible.

Within hours, the commander organized a meeting in the cargo hold. Many of the quarians dreaded another announcement about AIs or something related to that. In fact, Kal stood guard to try and defuse any situation. Kasumi found it hilarious, earning a few glares from the quarian marine, now dubbed "Rambo."

"I trust each and every one of you know that I have been in a terrible mood all day?" Shepard asked the crew.

He earned more than a few nods. Most of the quarians were terrified while Grunt snorted in amusement. _'Cowards.' _

"Well then, I will explain why." John chuckled quietly. "The fucking mouth breathing bastards of Cerberus have been trying to take me back…"

Murmurs began among the quarian crew, making Shepard roll his eyes. "Of course I won't join them back, I already betrayed the idiots, would do so again and they know it."

"Then what are you doing sir?" A quarian ensign inquired.

Shepard identified him immediately. Not a shy man by any means, Ildo was extremely talkative and very outgoing. "Accept their intelligence gatherings, in exchange of them leaving us the hell alone. We'll do the job to destroy the Collectors, while they do their own crap."

Many quarians nodded in approval, while some still remained suspicious. "Don't worry, I assure you, I am not going back to suck low class scum like Cerberus. I tend to hang out among high class allies…" He smirked. "Which are an endangered species, I should say."

That got him a few laughs, including Tali. She had been the only one to have been able to approach the commander on his Cerberus-inspired dark mood. Eventually, she had calmed him down by convincing the man to tell the crew of what was being done next.

It couldn't hurt. This information was not deemed extremely important. Shepard's "Praetorian Guard" was informed of the follow up operations as soon as he was able to talk without biotically smashing something. Tali had to swear that he was not going to kill anyone. Grunt seemed eager to meet him in that state for some weird, twisted reason.

"I want you all to continue with your jobs, as we will continue with our own against the Collectors and any enemy that dares threaten the galaxy."

Some clapped, some just left. Shepard did not care, he was eager to go rest, sleep like a damn bear before going on the next mission.

* * *

><p>He and Garrus had planned to assault Nassana Dantius' building the day Thane was set to attack. It was the next day, but their sources were not sure when the attack would be, so they just decided to launch the assault in the afternoon.<p>

Shepard proceeded to make his rounds. Tali and Garrus were eager to accompany him on the mission. As great as it sounded, Shepard wanted Garrus leading the second team. They were set to apply a blitzkrieg, cut off the mercenary forces and surround them before crushing what was left. There were no objections.

Mordin was surprisingly eager to fight, saying he had a few chemicals to test on some mercs. The doctor was brutal and effective. John was starting to like him more. As for Kasumi, she had been teasing Kal nonstop since meeting him, and both were also participating, with the Japanese thief being escorted by the tough as nails quarian marine, who was now converted into a sniper.

To John's relief, Urla was making a rapid recovery and the wheelchair was done. Joker was extremely happy to be helping the quarian with therapy. Shepard was glad it was working, since the quarian woman was now on high spirits.

"There will be three squads." Shepard began as he stared at his whole team. "I will take Tali and Jack, provide a wing of support to the main line." He turned towards Garrus. "You, my friend, will take Zaeed, Mordin and Grunt, as you all will be holding the line against the mercs."

For some weird reason, Mordin smirked at that comment.

"Finally, Kal." John looked at the quarian marine. "You will take Kasumi as a cloaked, hidden force. You both will strike after given the order on the radio or you see the objective at hand, got it?"

"Understood." Kal nodded.

Shepard then looked at the ceiling. "EDI, I want every possible firewall up, this ship must be protected at all costs. Tell the crew I want the Normandy Militia on duty as we are gone."

"Yes, Commander."

"Good, now go get some rest people, tomorrow hell begins."

* * *

><p>It was a bright, sunny day on Illium. Everyone was going by their schedule. Vehicles and ships were moving relentlessly in the air, unaware of the coming battle in the Dantius Buildings.<p>

"We are proceeding with attack, enemy forces pinned down." Garrus announced on the radio.

John nodded. "Good, keep it up." He replied smoothly.

Tali, Shepard and Jack had been waiting for the right moment to strike. And the wait was becoming too much to bear.

"Fuck! I want to fight someone already!"

"Shut up." Shepard ordered. "Unless I tell you to, stay silent and focused."

The super biotic growled but nodded nevertheless. She knew Shepard would send her back if she screwed it up. Besides, Shepard was a good leader, and she was eager to see what he would do to Nassana.

As for Tali, she was very impressed with the plan. Shepard's squad was taken to the tenth floor, hiding behind enemy lines while Garrus and his team entered guns blazing, taking the mercs by surprise. Kal and Kasumi had reported they were ready for anything up in the fifteenth floor.

It was good having EDI protecting the radio broadcasts from the Eclipse mercs.

"In twenty seconds, we begin to unleash hell." Shepard muttered as he readied his rifle. "Get ready." He nodded at an enemy patrol.

Jack smirked. "Hell yes…"

Their quarian companion only nodded, already getting her omni tool ready.

"Now."

The small biotic, also know as Subject Zero, chuckled as she unleashed a fierce shockwave, breaking a glass of the tall building and letting two mercs fall to their deaths. The other three were confused and on the floor. Before they could get up, Shepard and Tali finished them off with bursts of assault rifles.

"Troy, this is Athens, we are advancing, expect a dwindling on enemy numbers."

"Roger, thanks man."

Shepard shook his head at Garrus, always the joker.

With multiple fronts opened, the merc forces were in disarray. The ones rushing to the fourth floor were not coming back and the ones dispatched to deal with the disturbing sounds in the tenth did not even reply to their comrades or superiors.

Nassana was getting nervous, it seemed. Merc reinforcements were increasing, but even they would have to have a limit. Garrus began to report a slow down of enemy forces, so his squad proceeded to the eight floor within an hour.

Smirking at the fine job his friend was doing, Shepard ordered Kasumi to begin hacking the building's defense systems and open all elevators that may be locked down.

"Troy, we will rendezvous on the fifteenth floor and proceed with operation."

"Copy that Athens, start counting the seconds."

Shepard laughed out loud while Tali and Jack took on an Eclipse biotic. Jack, ever the fiery fighter, growled and charged at the asari. The two engaged in hand to hand combat, which Jack immediately won thanks to the knife on her shotgun.

The asari bled out within seconds as her neck was destroyed. John paid a glance, his cold eyes assessing the damage before sending a smirk to Jack, who smirked back.

An elevator was being opened by Kasumi.

"Athens, this is Shadow, beware of enemy reinforcements on elevator."

"Thanks." Tali replied as she readied her shotgun.

Shepard then yelled. "Take cover behind those pillars at each side, Tali take left, you Jack take the right, I'll stay in the center."

Both sent their affirmatives before taking cover.

Finally, after a wait of about a minute, the door chimed open, with a krogan roaring orders to his soldiers.

"Focus on the krogan, take that fucker down!" Shepard ordered as he sent a warp to the krogan, who responded with the same, sending the commander crashing down ten feet back.

Roaring, Jack blew the arm off one of the soldiers and then beheaded him with another blast. Tali used her drone to distract the krogan while she rushed to see if Shepard was okay. Jack then killed another soldier with a warp, sending the woman crashing down before breaking the glass and falling.

The commander stood up and growled. "Tali, get the fuck back to your position!"

She nodded immediately, not wanting to make the Commander even angrier.

John turned to his shotgun and began peppering the krogan, who turned his attention to the human. The commander felt some pain on his left shoulder, but applied some fast adrenaline shots to himself and screamed.

"Come on fatty, right here."

Tali and Jack disposed of the last soldiers behind the krogan as the latter destroyed the drone with an overpowered fist.

Summoning his biotics, Shepard charged and landed a punch to the krogan's face, pushing the mercenary back. Taking a knife from a holster on his leg, Shepard stabbed the krogan on the left knee.

Another knife, another knee. The mercenary let out a giant howl of pain before kneeling at Shepard's feet.

Shepard aimed the shotgun at the krogan's face. "Goodbye."

With a blast, the last mercenary was gone and done with it.

"Athens, we are proceeding to your position."

"Good, we are waiting for you." Shepard said as he cleaned blood from his face, a mix of red and green thanks to a salarian being blown off by Tali.

"We also have survivors, about twenty, what should we do?"

"Kill them." Shepard replied coldly. "We have no use of them."

While Jack grinned maliciously, Tali shuddered. John was quite brutal when it came to war.

"Roger."

It seemed that Garrus was on the same terms with Shepard regarding prisoners of war. Ever since the hunt for Saren, besides Tali and Daro, Garrus had been another of Shepard's closest friends. Both would always agree on tactics, discipline and, quite literally, moral dilemmas.

"Athens, this is Shadow, we have caught visual of objective, permission to proceed with hunt?"

"Permission granted, we are advancing to the top floor now, expect light resistance."

"Since when is resistance light?"

"Just shut up and continue."

"Affirmative, Shadow out." The voiced giggled before snapping out of the radio.

Looking at Tali, the commander smirked. "Let us go see what Nassana has to offer hm?"

Jack laughed. "I like you Shepard, this is awesome, hope we can kill some more."

"Glad to be of service, Jack." The commander replied sarcastically.

Tali just laughed.

* * *

><p>Kal was keeping his eyes on four mercenaries, currently guarding the main door to Nassana. Shepard and Garrus' squads would get there in ten minutes. There was no time to lose. Thane had already killed a mercenary before jumping to the building. Kal had to give it to Kasumi. She knew everything there was about infiltrating. While he was not one of those operatives, his flexible quarian body was able to be silent most of the time. Like if the mercenaries would have noticed. They were being massacred by Shepard and Garrus' teams.<p>

"Did you hear some voices when we were advancing?" Kal asked.

Kasumi nodded. "Now that you mention it, yes, I saw a couple of salarians trapped in a room through the video cameras."

"Should we inform Shepard?"

"Nah, he will say we are wasting time. Besides," She smirked. "After Nassana is out, we can just inform the authorities."

Satisfied, Kal took his sniper and aimed at an asari biotic, who seemed to be the main officer there.

"Kill her and then I will just throw in a grenade. By the time we are done, Shepard and company should be here."

"Loud and clear."

The quarian marine aimed at the opponents head. No hesitation. He tried to remember what the asari had done to his kind. All the insults he received from them when he was on his pilgrimage, all the humiliations. Ignoring their plight after losing the war to the geth...

He smirked. _'Besides, they are mercs, just like Shepard said, scum.'_

A gunshot sound reined in the air. Within the blur of a second, the asari's brains were painted on the wall and the other three mercs began to scream orders around, disorganized and frightened before an explosion ceased their cries.

"Well, that was easy enough." Kasumi cockily stated.

Kal nodded. "Yeah, I agree."

"Come on Rambo, let's go meet the heavy hitters."

The quarian just shook his head at the nickname as he stood up from the tall position, though there was a smile on his face. He had seen the movie, which was complete crap in terms of technology and special effects. A true classic in human culture, Kasumi had said. He was nothing like that guy, shooting with a heavy machine gun and fictionally able to kill countless enemies without getting a single scratch.

* * *

><p>"Well, it looks like we drained them of reinforcements; Nassana is dumber than I thought." Garrus commented as his and Shepard's squad began to make their way to the main door that led to the crazy asari's headquarters.<p>

"She's desperate and paranoid like the contact said. Probably thinks we are on Lawson's behalf." Shepard smirked. "Maybe if we could get some money before we kill her?"

"Sounds good to me." The turian smiled. "No one will miss that bitch anyway."

"Amen. By the way, remind me to give that asari a sum of money for proving us transport."

"Will do."

Zaeed and Grunt chuckled while Tali glared at the pair. They did not have to say life was so meaningless. Her race knew that especially. She was going to have a talk with John soon about this.

Garrus nodded at the entrance, were Kasumi and Kal were waiting for them. "Well well, Shadow team was more successful than I thought."

"Of course." John smiled. "You are talking to Rambo and the female Robin Hood right there."

"Who and who?"

Shepard resisted the urge to kick his friend. "Never mind."

"About time Shepard." Kasumi smirked. "Me and Rambo have been waiting for ages."

Everyone chuckled at the thief's spunky personality. It was a relief to have someone lifting one's spirits after a hard battle. Kasumi was one of those. She was also a infiltration genius, just like Garrus.

"Alright team, be ready for anything, we are going in." Shepard glared at his comrades in arms. "Don't shoot or go trigger happy unless I tell you to, alright?" He shuddered at the pain of his shoulder, most likely dislocated after that encounter with the krogan battle master, who had been more difficult than he thought.

Everyone voiced their approval and proceeded to enter, forgetting that a certain assassin was watching the group intently.

* * *

><p>Nassana groaned as soon as she saw Shepard's face. "Oh goddess, I thought you were dead."<p>

"Thought you would greet me with open arms Nassana." John replied with a smirk.

The guard of the powerful asari was on the defensive, nervously watching the man who they all thought was dead entering their bosses' chamber. All of their comrades were decimated just an hour earlier and now they were facing the man who was responsible for doing so.

"What do you want Shepard? Did Henry sent you? I can pay you much more than he will."

John smirked. "How much are we talking about hm?"

"How much did he pay you to take me out?"

"About… ten million creds."

"All of this for that girl, she's more trouble than she's worth."

"Holding leverage against him or what?"

Nassana scowled at the commander. "You don't know what you humans have done to me. After that hit on my damn bitch of a sister, the Alliance began hounding me and I lost everything."

"You are still filthy rich as far as I can see, darling." Shepard replied.

"Shepard, I am talking about politics, I lost most of my influence thanks to my sister and then you had to screw it up telling the Council about it."

"Ah, but you paid me low, I told you to higher it up and you said no, what was I supposed to do? It was just business, after all."

The asari growled. "I will give you fifteen million creds and the damn girl, and you leave, deal?"

Shepard made the theatrics of seeming to consider the offer. Garrus offered a nod, a smirk planted on his face. An omni tool came out.

"Deal, transfer the creds to this account and we are done as soon as the girl comes with me."

Nodding, Nassana began to type furiously. As soon as she was done, the asari was about to say something when a guard approached her. "I heard something."

"Damn it, check the entrances." She then turned to Shepard. "You, stay put, I will-"

Before anyone could react, a shadow befell upon the luckless mercenaries. One by one, they fell to the assassin. Nassana tried in vain to aim her pistol at the man, but he just dodged and punched her in the face, sending her backwards before shooting her in the stomach.

Nassana Dantius was no more.

In all honesty, Shepard was extremely impressed with the drell assassin. In less than twenty seconds, he had killed four mercenaries and Nassana herself. The commander sighed in relief as the money was already transferred to his account. He was planning on killing the asari anyway but still, Thane was close to blowing up his little scam.

"Zaeed, Grunt, go retrieve the girl and bring her to me."

The duo nodded while watching the drell closely. Thane was… praying? They were not sure, but it looked like it.

"I am very impressed with you, Krios." Shepard began as he told his team to lower their weapons. Zaeed and Grunt had already left towards a door deep inside the chamber. "In fact, I am so impressed that I would like to recruit you for a mission."

Silence.

Shepard growled. "I am talking to you Krios."

"I am always listening." Came the soft, gurgle like reply of the assassin.

The commander nodded. "Good, well, you may have heard of the human colonies vanishing, I am aiming to fight back against the Collectors."

Suddenly, Thane looked up at the human, his eyes narrowing. "Attacking the Collectors would require you passing through the Omega Four Relay…." His eyes narrowed even further. "No ship has ever returned from doing so."

"They said the same shit about Illos, and I am here."

Thane chuckled quietly. "You have a point. My mission is half complete, now I need to retrieve the girl, if you would excuse me…"

"Wait."

The drell turned back. "I will take care of this, you will receive your part of the bargain though, how much did Lawson offered to pay you?"

"Two million creds."

"Consider it done, I will give you that in exchange of keeping the girl, I am interested in what this man may offer me for her return."

"You are messing with a very powerful human, Shepard. And, I always complete my missions."

"Well, this is the exception, you are now fighting for the galaxy."

Thane bowed his head. "How many have died from the attacks."

"Hundreds of thousands missing, most likely dead already."

As soon as Zaeed brought the girl with him, who was sending frightened looks at Grunt, Thane replied, "I will join you on this mission, money is of no concern to me but it would do great to my son."

"Good, now Zaeed, take the girl to the ship and have Chakwas see her, Grunt, you provide escort duties." As his operatives nodded, Shepard turned to the rest of his team. "Garrus, make a random tip to the police so they can come pick up this mess, the dead will start to stink. Tali, you stay with me, the rest of you, off to the ship."

Thane watched the people carefully as they acknowledged their superior's orders. He was now in a team to fight against the legendary Collectors. He would make sure to explain Shepard about his… precarious situation regarding the syndrome. With the sum of credits sent his way, Kolyat will be better off and his sins…. forgotten by the gods.

"Now, Thane, what is the name of this girl and why is she so special?" Shepard had a huge smirk on his face. Tali was already assuming the worst.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Well now, here you go, a long chapter in exchange for you waiting too much for the update. Thanks to everyone reading, and please, reviews are most welcome. People can provide their opinion and see to it that me, the author, knows what's right or wrong. Besides, its cool to open up the mail and see the alerts, reviews and favorites.**

**As always, a pleasure to write for you.**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Howdy! Welcome back to Dark Jewel. In this chapter, some things will be set to motion, and you will see the true nature of this story somewhat. Thank you for those reviewing and for those who don't, please do so, its good to hear from you people.**

**Onward!  
><strong>

* * *

><p>It had been a bright day indeed. Shepard was pleased with the recent acquisition of funds, the "Lawson" girl and the fifteen million creds technically stolen from Dantius. The commander couldn't help but laugh. Stolen right before she died…<p>

"Commander!" Someone shouted.

John turned and saw Kelly, her bright green eyes shining at him. "Commander! I need to speak with you."

The male grumbled, a few courses escaping through his lips, making a couple of quarians and humans working around glance back at him. A glare from the commander sent them back to work.

"Kelly…" Shepard growled. "If this is another psychological evaluation, Im going to space you and…"

"No!" She laughed at him. "No, Admiral Daro wishes to speak with you, immediately."

Seeing Kelly so serious meant shit got real. As fast as the Normandy itself, Shepard grabbed his coffee and rushed to the CIC room. He pressed the button while lighting up a cigarette. He wasn't nervous, but Daro rarely called him like that now. This was serious then.

As soon as her image materialized, she stood up. "John, we have an emergency."

"What? What is it?" He eyed her up. "Are you okay Daro?"

"I'm fine." She replied dryly. "But… Zorah isn't."

Shepard's eyes widened slightly before setting back into an indifferent mask, an eyebrow raised. "Ah?"

"Yes, his ship, the Alerei, is not replying to our calls."

"For how long?"

"It started about two hours ago." Daro shook her head slowly. "This is serious John, Zorah is always communicating with us, something must have happened on his ship."

John sighed. "I heard from Tali about his experiments."

"Indeed." The quarian admiral nodded. "That could be the problem they are currently facing if I am not mistaken."

"Most likely, yes." Shepard grabbed his forehead. "You called me on the right time Daro, I was about to recruit someone."

She raised her eyebrow beneath her mask. "Ah? Who?"

"An asari, but that's not important now." He waved his hands, in a dismissive pose. "I will set a course to the Migrant Fleet as soon as possible, we will be there in ten hours."

"Good." Daro then hesitated to talk, which startled the commander. "There is also something I needed to talk to you about."

"Yeah, let me just send a message to Joker." He waved her off slightly, which made her a little mad but dismissed it.

After forty seconds, he nodded to himself. "Alright, we are leaving the docks, so what is it that you wanted to talk to me about Daro?"

"Are we being listened to?"

John smirked slightly in amusement. "You mean spied on? Oh don't worry, that thing is done and over with." The commander glared at the corners of the room, hoping to send a message to the AI.

His omni-tool bleeped. John chuckled lowly. The AI did get the message. Good.

"Okay, then what is it?" Shepard raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms.

Daro sighed. "Zorah has been making a lot of research on how to destroy the geth, you are aware of that yes?"

"Yes."

"Then you should know that his research would… help me too."

Shepard smiled knowingly. "You want me to steal some of his research don't you?"

The admiral let out a chuckle. "You know me too well."

"Well, what's in it for me honey?"

Daro just smiled, which Shepard could tell through her widening eyes in the mask. "I knew you would ask. So, how about some newly improved weapons and getting back my home world?"

"Include a fifty million cruise around Rannoch and we are good honey."

She knew he was joking, and it was his form of saying yes. Daro smiled at him, grateful for his assistance. "John, listen, when you rescue Zorah, because I know you will, say you received one of his emergency transmission signals, and you rushed back."

"Ah, I smell something illegal here, I like it." Shepard smirked.

The admiral sighed, a smile on her face. "Tali'Zorah was supposed to get a message if this continued for a week, it is all because of the other idiots, excluding Raan, fighting for political clout."

"I see." Shepard nodded firmly, then eyed her. "You will stay on your ship unless I call you, is that clear?"

"You saying this as my friend?" She threw in.

John looked at her in the eye, a slow smile forming on his lips. "As more, I am sure." He then waved at her. "Goodbye Daro, see you in ten hours."

"Wait." She exclaimed slightly.

The human raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to speak. "Be careful John, prepare for heavy geth resistance, I will do my best to stall the Migrant Fleet Marines so they let you do your job better."

"Thank you." Shepard nodded with a smile. "I don't need the good wishes, after all, the geth tremble at my feet." He waved his eyebrows at her.

It was a joke, of course. Daro, however, somehow wondered if the geth truly feared Shepard.

"I will establish communications with you in six hours, be ready John." She eyed him for a few seconds. "Come back safely."

John chuckled. "Always."

And with that, the communication ceased. Shepard's smile turned into a deep frown. _'Fuck.. Tali.."_

Grabbing his coffee yet again, he made his way to the elevator. Punching the button to get to his luxurious room, he growled. _'Fucking Rael'_

Again, he had to save the quarian's necks. "Alright, let's see..."

He found Tali on his omnitool. "Yes John?" Her voice came through, sexily accented as always.

"Come to my cabin, its urgent."

"I will be there in just a moment."

As soon as the elevator doors opened, Sheprd rushed in, taking a cigarette from a box in the table close to the couch and sat on the bed, a headache about to come through.

John didn't have to wait more than three minutes with Tali walking in, her body somewhat stiff with each step she took.

"Is everything okay?"

The commander shook his head as he took another drag from his cigarette. "No, its really not." He stood up and began to play with his hair. "I got a message from Daro a while ago… did you know our next destination is the Migrant Fleet yet again?"

She stiffened a lot more now. "What? Why?"

"Your father messed up."

"…The Alerei.."

"Indeed." Shepard nodded grimly. "We are going to rescue his sorry ass and clean up the mess."

Tali hung her head. "I never thought something like this would happen."

"Happens to the best, you know that."

The quarian just shrugged. "I am worried about father, but more about the fleet, what if.."

"Nah, the geth will only be able to stay there. Thing is…" He put a hand on her shoulder. "We have to rescue what is left of the crew and your father before it gets… worse you know?"

"Yes." She steeled herself. "Thank you for telling me this."

"Nothing to thank me about, just know that you and Garrus will be with me, I am planning the second hit team."

"Have they sent any marines in yet?"

"No offense Tali, but your quarian marines, except for Kal, suck."

She laughed a bit, something Shepard wanted after seeing her so depressed.

John sneaked a hand through her waist and knocked on her visor. "Hello? Is my Tali ready to kick some geth ass?"

"Yes she is." She replied with amusement, relaxing to his touch.

The commander smiled warmly. "Good, now, let us go plan this before I smoke a whole pack by myself."

"Anything to make you stop smoking those nasty things."

He laughed at her disgusted voice. A little voice on his mind, however, made him frown. _'Will she take it the wrong way?' _

* * *

><p>Within four hours, Shepard assembled his best team to date, Tali'Zorah Vas Neema and Garrus Vakarian, along with a second emergency team. The rest of the Normandy staff and team members were cautioned to stand by and engage if given the order or "excuse."<p>

The second team consisted of Zaeed Massani, Grunt, Kal and Kasumi. Shepard was astounded at the work chemistry shown between the thief and the quarian marine. Often, Garrus would joke about the enigmatic Kasumi stealing the heart of the hardened quarian soldier. John just laughed at his antics.

However, now it was not the time to joke. The Normandy contacted the Rayya and began talks with the captain, who Shepard knew very well.

Standing right beside Joker, John Arthur Shepard said, "Yes captain, we got a distress signal and thought you were in grave danger, and now, after a few scans, you… are."

"_Give me the rundown Captain Shepard." _

"I can only tell you this, metal freaks in the Alerei."

A minute silence came.

"_Do what you need to do Shepard. If you pull this off, I will make sure you are an honorary citizen of my ship, mark my words."_

John was quite surprised at the captain's words, but let it go. "Thanks Captain, please, advise your people to stay cautious, do not send any quarian hit teams, this is highly risky."

"_Acknowledged." _

The Normandy then docked with the Rayya, with the rest of the admiralty board waiting for them in the docks. Shepard sighed as soon as he saw them all, excluding Daro of course. It looked like they were debriefed a few moments ago, since they were quite shaken up.

"Captain Shepard!" Admiral Han'Gerrel greeted. "I would say it is great to see you, but under these recent circumstances…"

"Yes." Raan nodded solemnly. "Right now we have a very precarious situation that we think you are quite capable of handling."

Daro had been quiet during the exchange, glancing at Shepard with worry. She was worried not only for the secret that he could be set to unravel, but also his safety. One never knew if a coming battle was to be the very last, especially when geth were involved. She hoped Zorah would just die to avoid any stupid politics along the way.

The commander was nodding at some orders given by Raan when he was tapped on the shoulder. He looked and saw Han, hands behind his back.

"Shepard, if you could give me a moment of your time?"

Nodding, the commander replied, "Of course admiral."

As the admiral led Shepard through the tunnels, he chuckled. "You can call me Han, you are a friend of us after all."

John raised his eyebrows but nodded, his eyes steeled.

Finally, they reached the plaza were last time, Shepard had recruited his quarian crew officially. He sighed silently, already preparing himself from what Gerrel was about to say.

"Shepard, you, of all people outside this fleet, know how much we have suffered throughout the last three centuries yes?"

"Indeed."

"Also you are the very first alien to talk positively about us outside the fleet, in all three hundred years."

Shepard nodded. "Of course."

The middle aged admiral then sighed. "You know what I am about to say don't you Shepard?"

"If you are talking about Admiral Zorah's experiments and subsequent idiocy, then yeah, I do."

Han flinched at the word idiocy. He was one of Rael's most trusted friends, but Han understood Shepard's anger. It was due to Tali.

"Please Shepard, you have to save him."

"I will do it, but not for you." Shepard shook his head. "I'll do it for his daughter, who he never gave a single fuck about, might I add."

Again, the admiral flinched at Shepard's words but nodded. "You have to understand Shepard, he was just trying to give us back the home world."

"Yeah, I understand that, and that's what pisses me off." The human began to walk away, but then turned around. "I will bring you back Admiral Rael, but promise me you will drill into him some sense, yes?"

"Of course." Han nodded eagerly. "And, about his experiments…"

"I'll wipe everything out." Shepard replied firmly. "If this is for your home world, then so be it."

Han smiled, relieved. "Thank you Shepard, you will find that this new friendship we've both started will bring you more than you can think."

"I know." Shepard smirked beneath his helmet. "I told you I had faith in your people, we can't give it up now can we?"

The admiral chuckled. "Thank you Shepard."

John nodded before walking away, the darkness of some of the corridors turning him into a shadow. Han knew they had found their greatest asset.

* * *

><p>"We will begin in the maintenance area, then move on through. Expect resistance as soon as we get in."<p>

Shepard was giving out the last orders before the shuttle would hit the Alerei. Tali had tried to contact her father, but the signal was blocked, probably by the geth. Those robot bastards, they would never cease attacking her people. She was glad Shepard was here. He was one of the only people who understood her rage, and even joined in at times.

"As soon as we clear the first room, try to contact the Normandy outside." Shepard ordered as he opened the shuttle and prepared his revenant.

"Will do." Garrus replied, while Tali just nodded. The commander glanced at her with worry in his eyes, but once she saw his deep blue irises, she smiled. She knew he could see it.

"You look better that way." He commented before taking the initiative and started walking towards the first two doors leading to the first area of the ship, Maintenance.

Tali blushed while Garrus chuckled. "Told you so." He sang before rapidly making his way to his best friend, leaving the quarian smiling faintly. Gripping her shotgun, she nodded at herself and, before she knew it, Shepard and Garrus were already on a firefight.

"Take the one on the left, I'll take the right."

"Roger that."

By the time Tali made it to the defenses they had set up, she was too late. A strong mixture of biotics and tech had wiped the geth out. The last one, which was already making stuttering sounds due to Garrus harassing it with his rifle, was terminated by Tali with a single round of her shotgun.

"Well, that was quickly." The turian commented, a smirk forming on his mandibles.

Shepard nodded and began communication with Daro. "Hey Jewel, this is JS, we have taken the first are of the ship, no sign of hostages yet, will continue to venture deeper, prepare for possible cyberwarfare."

"Roger that JS, be careful."

"Yes ma'am."

Communications ceased after that. Tali had contacted Joker, who in turn, informed EDI of establishing powerful electro and cyber defenses in case the geth tried to take on the Normandy. The emergency team was in the inside room, with Kal relaying orders and listening to Shepard and his team make it through.

"I hear something." Garrus whispered to Shepard, who nodded slowly.

"What is it?"

"Weeping."

"Alright, take the left, I'll take right." John glanced at Tali. "Hey precious, you do something too. Get the shields of you and Garrus to the most power while I charge up alright?"

She nodded, suppressing a chuckle.

After five seconds, the three burst in. Tali blinked while Shepard and Garrus stared at the scene.

More than ten quarians, some tending to the wounded, others fiddling with their omnitools.

One of them stood up. "Thank the ancestors, Keelah I thought we were dead."

"The geth were trying to get inside, but then we heard gunfire, we thought they were being attacked by quarian marines." Another quarian, this time a female, commented.

"Yeah, it was use, we are here to clean up." Shepard replied smoothly. "How many people are left?"

"We are a crew of sixty, ten died during the first hours though, that's all I know." The first quarian that talked replied.

Tali stepped in. "Have any of you seen Admiral Zorah?"

"Yes, he is probably two levels into the center of the ship, he talked through the omnitool about twenty minutes ago giving out orders, but then he was cut out, damn geth."

"Well ladies and gentlemen." Shepard intervened. "I have a shuttle prepped and ready for you all to take. Please, the wounded first and then the healthy ones at the end but no worries, all of you are leaving on a single trip."

"Thank you human." One of the wounded quarians commented.

Shepard nodded. "Of course, now everyone, start moving, pronto!"

"Normandy, this is Archangel." Garrus said as the quarians began their journey to the dock of the ship, "We have about ten through thirteen quarians, ready for pick up, they will be taken to the Rayya with some heavily wounded, over."

"Roger that… say Garrus, did you win the first battle against Shepard?"

"Yes sir, by two."

"Yeah!" Joker's loud voice cut through the omnitool. "Zaeed and Grunt, pay up!"

"My Battlemaster has not lost, you are lying, you perverted pilot!"

Shaking their heads at the pilot and Grunt's antics, they resumed their escort duties. Some of the quarians glanced at Tali, giving her a look of sadness. She flinched each and every time. It made her mad.

After ten minutes, the quarians were evacuated. Shepard ordered to continue through the first level, which was, according to some of the quarians, the heaviest with geth.

"Garrus, get your viper, I will give you space so you can snipe them." He turned to his best female friend. "Tali, you will cover my ass with your beautiful shotgun tactics while I use my biotics understand?"

"Roger."

"Good, then let's begin shall we?"

"GOT ONE!" Garrus shouted as his sniper caught yet another geth platform, its head becoming countless cables and circuits.

Shepard smirked as he summoned his biotics and slammed two platforms into a hunter, shattering them to pieces.

The turian looked up with a mocked expression of shock. "Biotics don't count!"

"Then snipers don't count either." John countered smoothly.

"I need assistance!" Tali shouted. "Two geth hunters-"

Shepard interrupted the quarian shouting, "Garrus, let's begin!"

One of the hunters was peppered with assault rifle rounds while the other received a deadly end through Garrus' sniper.

Tali was about to finish her sentence when one of the hunters fell, completely destroyed. The other focused its attention on Shepard and, before it could get its camouflage, the commander charged with his biotics and finished it off with a burst of his rifle right to the head.

The turian whistled. "Damn, that was good."

"Of course it was." Shepard replied pompously, sweat dripping through his forehead. "Ill give you a seven for your shot though."

"Seven?!" Garrus shouted in amusement. "You are so damn bias."

Tali shook her head at their shenanigans, but right then, there was a beep. She took a look into it and it said one word, enough to shake her like an earthquake. "Father!"

Both Shepard and Garrus turned around, hearing her so distressed and shocked. The commander growled and summoned his biotics, but Tali just kept staring at her omnitool.

"Father?"

"Whoever is tearing through the geth, please make sure to open room 12-B, there are about twenty crew people there. I am currently locked up in room 11-C."

"Father! Father!"

"He can't hear you Tali." Shepard said softly. "The geth are blocking some of our signal here."

"Bosh'tet!" She growled.

Rael's voice ended with a, "Keelah'selai."

"Come on, let's go to get the admiral." John ordered softly, taking Tali's hand. "Promise me that, if anything happens to me, you will kick your dad in the balls for making me work too hard."

Tali could not help but laugh among the tears. "I don't have to, I know we will."

The three chuckled as they made their way to the elevator.

"Commander, according to the data from the geth, Admiral Zorah is currently two hundred yards from your position."

"Yeah, eh thanks." Shepard was still getting used to the idea of an AI being his chief advisor on intelligence.

"How fucking ironic that we are fighting geth and a damn AI is helping us do so."

Shepard's comment made both Garrus and Tali laugh out loud.

After ten minutes, they reached a sealed room, pretty heavily encrypted.

"Tali, I want you to start hacking through it, then step aside, understand?"

"Yes John."

And, just as he ordered, Tali began hacking through the encryption. According to EDI, the geth were regrouping for a last stand up in level three, so he sent Garrus to retrieve the civilians, just one hundred yards away from their position.

Finally, the door turned green. "Tali! Step aside!"

Shepard's shout made the quarian do just as he said. Within a second, shots rang through, just as he had predicted.

"Admiral! You idiot! You almost killed your daughter!"

"Tali? My Tali?" Rael's voice cut through the thick atmosphere, full of concern and surprise.

Immediately, the young quarian became a rocket and went on to hug her father, who was walking towards the entrance.

Rael caught her easily and chuckled amidst tears. "Oh my daughter, thank the ancestors."

Deciding to give them some privacy, Shepard stepped out, and began talking to Garrus, who said the civilians were waiting for an escort.

"Kal." Shepard communicated with the tough marine. "Begin preparing your team, I want you here in twenty minutes."

"Roger that sir, make it fifteen."

'_Jarhead.' _Shepard thought amusingly.

"Are there any more people?" John asked the quarian civilians.

One of them shook her head sadly. "No, the rest… are dead." She took a grim look at a terminal. "I was about to say goodbye to my children, thank you so much Commander."

Shepard smiled warmly, his eyes shining. "No, you don't have to; just promise me that you will take care of them."

"Of course." She happily replied. "I'm Ordea'Folmo Vas Rayya."

"Commander John Arthur Shepard, at your service ma'am." He saluted. "It's good to make your acquaintance."

She chuckled quietly. "Your name will be remembered Commander, trust me on that."

Garrus was curious on Shepard's sudden melting when he heard the lady was a mother. Of course, he kept it to himself. He would ask John later, though. Shepard was an enigma sometimes.

"It's actually Captain." Someone replied to Ordea.

Turning around, Shepard saw Rael, hands clasped behind his back. "I cannot thank you enough Captain Shepard, your service to the fleet just went into legend."

The commander's face turned stony. "Thank you, admiral."

"There are still geth left in the ship, maybe we should-"

"Don't worry Admiral Zorah." Garrus interrupted smoothly, "One of our teams is on its way, they will wipe them out in no time."

"Good." Rael smiled. "Now, please my friends, start going to the docks, I am sure Shepard will provide assistance?"

"Of course." The commander replied stiffly.

Tali glanced at him and saw anger on his icy blue eyes, but once they set on her, they softened.

"Let us begin then, wounded first, then women."

Shepard's order was carried out before he could even finish. According to the numbers, more than thirty people had died since the Mini Geth Uprising 2.0 began. This was awaiting if the quarians decided on going to war against the geth. _'Daro is the only hope for them.' _He thought, with a smile on his face.

The group of about twenty five people made it to the docks after twenty minutes of escort duties and some fears of geth resistance. However, just as Rael had said, they were all cornered in the top rooms, waiting to make their last stand most likely.

Kal and his group started helping with the wounded. Once everyone was set, Shepard walked up to the quarian marine and smiled. "Kal, I trust you will do a good job." He scowled. "I am afraid I can't go, politics awaits me."

The quarian marine chuckled. "Don't worry sir, I am sure we will finish this smoothly."

"Good, and use the collector beam, they turn into ashes, trust me, it made me laugh."

Shepard looked at the quarian. "Oh, and make sure Kasumi doesn't go stealing everything, will ya?"

"I heard you commander!" The petite Asian woman put her hands on her hips. "Just because I am a professional thief, it doesn't make me a degraded human, I would never steal from these people."

Kal smiled warmly beneath his helmet. "Couldn't expect any less from you, Hoodie."

"It's Robin Hood! Not Hoodie!" Kasumi replied, crossing her arms grumpily while Kal laughed. "Of course, I would expect nothing less from a Rambo."

"Remember my favor, Kasumi." John looked at her in the eye.

She slowly nodded. It was obvious she was against the idea, but after Shepard explained, she complied with it.

Before Shepard knew it, the foursome were making their way to the expected top floor, and the whole way Kal and Kasumi were bickering back and forth. John slowly smirked. Maybe Garrus could be right, after all.

Moments like this, however, were destined to be ruined. "Shepard, its Daro." Her smooth voice cut through. "The admiralty board is waiting, they are going to set charges against Rael for insubordination, betrayal and homicide."

Shepard let out an annoyed scream. "Fuck!"

Rael and Tali, meanwhile, were shocked as Daro, purposely, cut through their channels just so they could hear as well.

"Oh ancestors…" Rael knelt on the floor while Tali hugged him. Meanwhile, Daro smirked viciously at her office.

John just sighed. "What are we going to do now?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So, an AU but there is still crap for Shepard and company. What is going to happen with Rael? Tali? Why is Daro suddenly so evil and Shepard so... strange? Find out in the next chapter, due to come out as soon as possible. Thanks to the people reading/reviewing. For those who dont review, like I said before, please do, I wanna know what you think and if you have any ideas of your liking for this story.**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Howdy y'all! Welcome back. Hopefully you enjoyed the last chapter, because here is the follow up. I promised you to work hard on the next chapter and release it as fast as possible. Well, here it is. Have a nice and reading. Remember, leave a review!**

* * *

><p>Tali had seen her father on his knees once, and that was when her mother had died. Rael looked helpless, defeated… destroyed.<p>

She stole a glance towards her best friend and superior officer. Commander Shepard was currently banging the walls and screaming at Daro to meet him before the Admirals could set up a concrete hour for Rael to present himself.

All of a sudden, Shepard's icy blue eyes landed on Rael, and Tali took a step back, afraid.

"You..." John walked towards him. "Destroyed everything!"

The miserable looking admiral looked up. "What?"

"You idiot!" The human then kicked the wall, hard. "Now with this, everyone will know!"

Now Tali was interested. "Know about what Shepard?"

He did not reply, simply stared at her with a blank expression.

"John?"

"Just be quiet, Tali."

That comment hurt, but she chose to obey him. She took a glance of him again, and noticed that he was holding his face with both his hands, a clear sign of exasperation.

Finally, he spoke. "I will go meet Daro in five minutes." Shepard then wore a grim smile. "Rael's little picnic will take place in an hour."

John stood up and walked towards Tali. "I'm sorry for my behavior earlier and know that I won't fail you." He then glared hard at Rael before turning around and leaving, his steps heavy on the ground.

"Don't worry father." Tali smiled hopefully. "Shepard always has a plan."

Easier said than done.

* * *

><p>Daro smirked as Shepard threw a tantrum on the communications. She knew he would be pissed off. Actually, she was thankful he did not blow up the ship out of anger.<p>

After a minute of waiting, he saw the human approaching, his face blank, but his eyes holding fire. Daro shivered slightly. She liked that.

"Tell me we have a plan." The man muttered.

The admiral gasped mockingly. "We?"

"Don't fuck with me Daro." Shepard growled. "You know your little experiments are in danger now, and _we_ won't have a concrete future if they are gone."

Now, Daro smirked. "Ah, interested in getting them as an army of sorts?"

"How else am I going to clean the shit on this galaxy honey?"

The admiral smiled. "Well, don't you worry, my operations are intact and proceeding without preamble."

"The thing you made me steal from Rael is coming, and I will give it to you after this so called trial."

Daro smirked. "Shepard, I did not know you were into blackmail?"

"Desperate times require desperate measures, love." He replied with a smile.

"Fine, I will do everything I can to shield that idiot from the fire he will receive."

Shepard smirked. "I know Han is a friend and will support me, you will too, but Raan is neutral and we still…" The human growled. "Have the wanker."

Daro shook her head. "Don't worry about him, John."

"You worry Daro." Shepard began to leave. "Because if I don't have my part, you don't have yours either."

"I know." The admiral sighed. "Keep in mind that any threats or homicides against the admiralty board are dealt with severely."

John laughed in a mocking way. "Trust me Daro, I've seen your soldiers, and they suck balls."

She suppressed the urge to chuckle. "Fine, just be careful John. The most you will get will probably be exile."

"Don't remind me."

As soon as Shepard replied, he began to walk away, but not before saying, "I still got faith in you honey, don't fuck it up."

For some reason, she was happy to hear that.

* * *

><p>Tali was now escorting her father to his trial. She was feeling so down and nervous, yet Shepard promised to do his best, but would that be enough? She knew Han'Gerrel would do anything to help Rael, and maybe, just maybe, Shala, her adoptive aunt. Of course, there was Zaal…<p>

The trial would be made in the Rayya, her birth ship. Taking a glance towards her father, she saw his head leaning slightly down, defeated. She sighed.

"Father?"

Rael finally looked at her in the eye since the terrible news had hit. "Yes Tali?"

"You know that Shepard will try everything to get you out right?"

The middle aged admiral sighed. "Yes, I do, but doubt it will be enough."

"Why didn't you tell me?" She was angry now. "I was sending you geth parts to study them, not to activate them!"

"I was doing it for the benefit of our race, my child."

"You almost got yourself killed!" Tali was holding both his shoulders now. "Do you know what I went through when mother died?"

Rael's head sank lower. "I do."

"Then why give me another heartache?"

"To give you a home world."

With those words, Tali sniffed but refused to cry. "I know, but your life is important too."

Her father smiled sadly. "You've gotten a little selfish, child."

"Anything for the ones I care about I would do, even you."

The words struck into Rael. _Even you. _He knew he had been a poor excuse of a father for a long time, but also thought she understood duty to her people, to her race. Of course, it still hurt to hear it. A lot.

"Come on father, the trial will begin shortly."

He nodded solemnly and followed her, still sad but overall eager to get rid of this. Capital punishment could be given, but he doubted it. The most would be exile. Rael was going through the things he could say or do to at least, still be part of the fleet. Of course, Zaal'Koris was going to do everything to counter that.

"Shepard is already here." Tali said with some enthusiasm in her voice. "I told you he would do his best."

Rael did not answer, just followed her until he found himself in a place where he had seen two others, and he had condemned them. What a hypocrite he had been...

Admiral Shala'Raan began with the prayer to the ancestors.

Tali stole a glance at Shepard and saw him staring straight ahead, not even looking at Shala, who was currently speaking. Now, she was more nervous than ever. Was he giving up?

"Admiral Rael, you have been accused of insubordination, betrayal and homicide, how do you plead?"

"Innocent."

Zaal'Koris snorted. "Innocent? After thirty quarian lives were lost?"

"Objection." Shepard countered, speaking for the first time. "That will be addressed later."

Shala nodded. "Sustained."

John smiled to himself. He did not know a single thing about court or law. He was just following his instincts and from the vids he had seen as a child about crime. Hopefully, they would help in this goddamn thing.

Han'Gerrel cleared his throat. "Admiral Rael, what happened in the Alerei?"

Looking down, Rael steeled himself and looked at his long time friend. "I was trying to find ways to counter the geth."

A gasp sounded on the people witnessing the trial. Zaal looked livid. Shepard could not help but roll his eyes.

"Find ways to counter the geth?" Koris scoffed. "By endangering the lives of several people? How do you feel about that?"

"Objection." Shepard said. "Feelings have nothing to do with this trial about Admiral Rael."

"What is a human doing here anyway?" Zaal'Koris mocked. "What are you doing here Shepard?"

"Defending my client, of course."

Tali smiled beneath her helmet while Rael nodded towards Shepard in respect. The commander did not even look at him.

"Objection sustained." Shala looked at Koris. "Please admiral, do refrain from questions like that and address them accordingly."

"Fine."

Han'Gerrel smirked. "What do you mean by finding ways to counter the geth, Admiral?"

"Better weapons and maneuvers in case of an attack by the geth. Although we have not been attacked in centuries, one can look at the Citadel attack; in the future it could be us."

"And by that, you willingly put the lives of people at danger, Admiral?" Daro asked.

Shepard was shocked. "Objection!"

"Overruled." Shala looked annoyingly at Shepard. "Rael, would you please answer the question?"

"I did not know something like this would happen." Admiral Rael replied quietly. "We were just testing weapons, nothing more."

"Did you or did you not activate geth platforms willingly and consciously, Admiral?" Daro spoke again.

John was confused. _'She is supposed to help, not fuck it up!'_

"No, I did not."

Shepard smirked. If Kasumi had gotten the research data, then…. she destroyed it after. Maybe, just maybe, they had a chance.

"Then how did they activate?" Han was curious now.

"I do not know, we just started hearing shouts and pleas for help. All of a sudden, we had found ourselves under attack."

"You do not know? Hah!" Koris ranted. "You should have thought of that when you first thought of those experiments!"

John growled lowly. "Objection!"

"Sustained." Shala looked at Koris seriously. "If you interrupt one more time, Admiral, you will be dismissed from this trial."

"I apologize." It even sounded mocking, but he was an admiral, and had the power to be moronic even in a trial. Shepard was astounded at that. _'Quarians do need to fix this mess.'_

"Evidence recovered from the site after Kal'Reegar and his team of… soldiers wiped the geth out suggests Rael's testimony is true." Shepard began, addressing the witnesses. "Rael put his life at risk contacting me to help over twenty trapped civilians in a room! He was selfless even in the face of death."

John then nodded at Koris. "True, the admiral addressed that many civilians perished, but people, accidents happen, as painful as it sounds. The fact that he was doing his best to help this race get more defensive capabilities against a monstrous threat like the geth is another reason as to why he is innocent of this… calamity you call a trial."

Han smirked while Shala just looked at Shepard. Daro was silent while Koris looked livid.

On the other side, Rael was staring intently at the human, while Tali held his father's hand tight, happy to see her friend and crush defending what was left of her family.

"I suggest you all to think carefully before putting those votes on. You could lose a great scientific mind that should help in the certain future." The commander then looked at Rael and Tali. "And not only a scientist and admiral, but also a father."

The witnesses around were silent, hanging on every word until Shala cleared her throat. "I suggest you start voting, ladies and gentlemen."

Omni tool raised, Han immediately voted, while Daro took a second, looking at John before finally fiddling with her omni tool.

Zaal'Koris looked at Tali, who was holding her father's hand tightly. Rael looked so weak, so devastated and defeated. Was his rival a… person all along? Was he just trying to get weapons to counter the geth? The evidence suggested he was…

The admiral then voted.

"Admiral Rael'Zorah, in light of evidence and defense provided by Captain John Arthur Shepard, we do not find sufficient evidence to convict, you are cleared of all charges."

Raan's words struck into Rael, who, out of urge, hugged his daughter. It was against his nature, but now he felt more blessed than ever. A daughter, who saved him and a trial which went to his favor, thanks to Tali and Captain Shepard.

"However, you will not have jurisdiction of the Alerei anymore, Admiral." Koris spoke. "Still, be thankful."

Well, almost everything went to his favor.

"Captain Shepard." Shala looked at the commander, with her omni tool raised. "Please accept these gifts, we thank you for your assistance in the Alerei and the trial."

"Thank you admiral, it was my pleasure."

With that, Shepard turned around and left, his heavy steps lingering around the ship. Tali was about to thank him, but the man was already out. The young quarian the noticed that Admiral Daro was not anywhere either.

Tali growled low. Rael just looked at his daughter with caution. "My child, are you okay?"

* * *

><p>The commander had been waiting on the same clean room where he had seen her face. Now, however, he was not as happy as that time.<p>

Daro stepped in, and immediately shivered as Shepard looked at her with the heaviest of fires found in the stars.

"What the flying fuck was that?" John shouted as soon as the doors locked. "What kind of little stunt did you try to pull at the trial?"

If she wasn't so trained in appearing indifferent, Daro could be cowering by now. "I was providing my input in the trial, nothing more."

"Input?" Shepard shouted again. "You just want Rael out of the picture!"

Daro smiled. "Well, congratulations John, you won."

After that comment, Shepard just shook his head. "What am I going to do with you woman? You are turning me insane."

"You were already insane." She returned amusingly. "With this, Rael loses a vast amount of power and his senior admiral status passed to Raan. Now things get interesting."

"She is fiercely neutral, genius." Shepard fired back. "How the hell are you going to convince her about war?" Then he laughed. "Or worse, control!"

"You want your synthetic army, I want my world back, it is crucial for our sakes that we continue an alliance."

"I do want to see you and Tali, along with the rest of the quarians happy, but hell, a synthetic army sounds outrageously fun."

Daro chuckled. "I know, that's why we must keep appearances, like in trials and such, but they all know that we are allies, of sorts, so it doesn't matter in person."

"Look." Shepard put a hand. "I will do my best to convince both Rael and Han to support you, but those guys want complete destruction, and I am not all against their ideas."

"Why, John." Daro mocked. "Are you changing sides now?"

"Hardly, my dear." He smirked as he took off his helmet. "I am just telling you, they will be hard to convince, we need something that will convince them, without us looking like traitors."

"Indeed, but right now it's not a good time, the fleet is up in arms, figuratively speaking, for this recent incident."

"How is your research going?"

The admiral smiled. "Excellent, we are close to something if that plan of control fails."

"You do not have a plan for control yet, have you?"

"Think, you idiotic primate." Daro admonished him seriously. "If we are able to deactivate them all, then we can make plans for control without problems."

Shepard nodded with a smile. "And this is why I like you."

"Because I am a genius?" Daro smirked, her chest puffed out.

The commander smirked as he approached her slowly. "No, my little minx." He then took her by the waist, getting a soft moan in return. "Because you turn me on when you begin formulating those devious plans of yours." The human had his face close to her neck, as if he was trying to bite through the suit. Daro really liked that.

"And you turn me on when you are angry or shouting, my little bosh'tet." She whispered on his ear.

John growled lowly. "More of that and you will end up sick for the rest of the year."

The admiral chuckled. "And that will interfere with the plans."

"I was never a saint, more of an evil commander."

Chuckling, Daro took off her mask and looked at her human in the eye. "We may not be able to follow through completely, but I will reward you somewhat, my faithful primate."

Shepard growled and swept her off her feet, destination the lone bed awaiting them. Again.

* * *

><p>The Illusive Man was ecstatic. Finally, after all these months of continuous research, he found a Reaper. A derelict reaper, dead but eager to rip the benefits off. He had sent a team of his best scientists, and they did a great job, at first. However, after a few weeks, they stopped reporting. The man had the suspicion that they had turned into husks.<p>

He had the option to send Kai, but the man was too… eh, not at his best right now. The Illusive Man was now considering his best agent to be a sort of a nuisance, way worse than Shepard. Of course, Shepard got the job done and cleaned everything up, while Kai complained and did what he wanted.

Perhaps…

The Illusive Man smirked and began typing furiously. John Shepard needed some work, and gladly he would give him one. This reaper needed to be thouroughly researched.

However, he would be careful. He was not going to end up a damn husk, someone to be controlled or trifled with. He would use his employees, maybe even Kai, but he and Shepard were needed at their top quality for the future.

Plans with the quarians were going accordingly. Daro was very efficient and extremely bright. Shepard had good eyes for talent, it seemed. The geth would never know what hit them, and then… the Illusive Man smirked. This weapon would be top of the line. Cerberus-Quarian intelligence working furiously and thoroughly on it. It was just a matter of time before it was done.

After the geth succumbed, the quarians would take their home and Cerberus would start the duly needed negotiations between the people holding the largest synthetic army and the power hungry humanity. Of course, Cerberus was also working on how to deactivate the geth, just if the quarians thought funny of humanity in the future.

The Illusive Man smiled to himself and took a sip of his whiskey. Things were getting extremely interesting now.

* * *

><p>The minute she heard of her son's survival, Hannah Shepard was beyond relieved and furious, both at the same time. The middle aged woman was currently captain of the Orizaba, and was being offered an Admiral post.<p>

It was so ridiculous. Politics in the Alliance Military were sickening to her. No wonder her son never looked back just left and began his own career.

She knew some of his teammates, after thorough research of course. Hannah approved of Tali and Liara, but was somewhat off towards Garrus, with First Contact still on her memories.

Hannah was planning to set up communications with her son at once. The rumors she had been hearing were… horrible to say the least. Working with Cerberus? Assassin? Firefights on Omega? All out war on Illium? Just what the hell was little Johnny up to?

The admiral's son was always a man with something up his sleeve. He always worked with a cause, something to win out. A motive was just the thing he needed to work his ass off. Thing is, what was he actually fighting for this time? Hannah knew that he wasn't a Spectre anymore… or that there was a geth attack being imminent. Reapers perhaps?

She did believe in them. When her son babbled about something twenty four seven, it was either true or just a lie to cover a truth. Also, her friend, Doctor Chakwas, before she vanished, had said that John was being truthful. That woman could not lie even if she was paid or her life depended on it.

There was something extraordinary, scarily extraordinary about to happen, and Hannah wanted to be part of it. This damn new desk job was driving her crazy. The Alliance now wanted to look good and be a good watch dog for the council, which had betrayed her son more times than she could count.

Was this perhaps a good time to change air? A good time to see her son and make him answer her questions about his whereabouts and the Reapers?

Perhaps… this Daro knew… as she was so intimately interconnected with John. There was something regarding him and the quarians. Hannah had never paid a glance at them until little Johnny began talking about them animatedly.

Still, Cerberus brought the worst of memories to her. If John was working for them… Hannah refused to cry. She was a captain for goodness' sake, and, in time, will make them pay. John could be doing so right now, as he was just as affected.

Hannah Shepard sighed and began fiddling with her omni tool. It was the time to set some things straight and talk to her son before he vanished, again.

* * *

><p>"Easy, tiger." Kasumi admonished him. "You could have had an infection if it wasn't for me."<p>

Kal chuckled. "I saved your ass back there."

"Just like I did, twice."

"Three times."

The Japanese thief huffed. "You are insufferable, you know that right?"

"Actually, this is the second time I hear that from people about me."

"Ah, who told you this the first time?"

"Tali, with the ma'am business."

Kasumi just laughed out loud. "I can imagine that, you are pretty much a jarhead to me, dumb one at that."

"Beats stealing from people don't you think?" He fired back almost immediately.

"Oh please." She huffed again as she took a sip of her water. "I steal from the rich, they have too much money to care anyway."

The quarian marine smiled at her. "You did well back there, Kasumi."

She smiled back, though she did know if he was smiling or not. "You didn't do too bad yourself, marine."

"Did you hear about the trial?" He took a seat on her couch. "Heard it was messy but fast."

The thief rolled her eyes. "Just Shepard being Shepard, the man can't live a single day without screaming at someone, or making someone's life miserable."

"Or giving a speech about something."

"Touché."

Kal liked this atmosphere. For a week, he had been paying visits to Kasumi, and both would find themselves either debating or just messing with each other. It was a high point in the day for him. A very high point indeed.

He frowned when Kasumi looked at him with distress.

"What is it hoodie?"

"It's Shepard's mother, she is trying to contact him."

"Through the mail?" He sighed. "Kasumi, how many times have I told you that that man's life is private for a reason?"

"No, you dummy." She retorted with a playful smile. "She is requesting coordinates from Joker. Captain Hannah Shepard wants to come visit her son at once."

"I know this is not going to end well." Kal muttered. "That woman sounds fierce just by her title and the offspring she produced…" The marine then gasped. "And how the hell did she get Joker's mail?"

"Beats me." She shrugged. "One thing is certain, things are getting really interesting now."

Kal looked at her mischievous smile and smiled too himself. "Yeah, I agree on that."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Well, there it is. What are Shepard's plans? Daro's? What is Hannah going to do? How is the meeting going to end up? What about the derelict reaper? Much more too in the next chapter! Stay tuned guys, thanks for reading and/or reviewing. Hope you enjoyed reading this chapter! Again, please review.**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: A little deeper into Shepard and some plotting here. Hope you like this chapter. Enjoy.**

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><p><em>Everything was blurry. He was standing on his room, watching his parents cuddle quietly in the lumbering darkness.<em>

_The little boy was not dumb. He knew something was up. The minute his mother came in and just sat on the couch, holding her forehead and taking pills from the nearest cabinet before his father enveloped in a hug got him a message._

_His father, Arnold, stood up from something his wife had whispered to him and his face was blank… John Shepard then steeled himself as he saw his father's face turning from blank into one of rage._

_The man, a carbon copy of his son, tried to keep an image in front of his family, but all he did was let a tear run down his face. Hannah just started sobbing, breaking down heavily. Her sobs were loud and heavy, surprising John._

_John was astonished. His parents, military to the bone, were crying. Something must have happened. Maybe someone in the family had died? No, his parents would not pull a show like this. They would wear stony faces and then tell him what was up. But this time, they were not._

"_Son." Arnold spoke, his voice hard. "Come here, Johnny."_

_The boy simply walked towards them, his face showing curiosity and… alarm. As soon as he reached the couch, his parents enveloped him in a hug as Hannah continued to cry and Arnold simply provided the comfort a man could, his strong arms around them._

"_What is going on?" John asked. "What happened?"_

_His father bit back a sob, his voice hoarse. "We just want you to be here, champ."_

"_Commander Shepard."_

_John, shocked, turned towards the darkness of the room. There was nothing._

"_Commander Shepard." The voice was cold, feminine but mechanical._

The human woke up with a gulp, sweat on his forehead. Sighing, he looked at the time. Eight am. He deduced something had him up from the nightmare.

As soon as he turned towards the door, EDI's voice chimed in. "Commander, Oriana would like to see you in the mess hall."

"Alright." He replied, making his way to the shower. "Tell her I will be there in twenty minutes."

Within seconds, she replied. "Acknowledged, logging you out."

Taking a quick shower to let the nightmare go away and get him to relax was good for the commander. After fifteen minutes, he dressed up and walked out of his cabin, his thoughts now on what to do with Oriana Lawson.

* * *

><p>Oriana knew this was an advanced ship. The minute she stepped in, all she saw were humans and quarians, all working in a frenzy. Her escorts took her to a large room, where they provided some covers and a couch before leaving. Her omni tool was not working, so she could not contact her parents.<p>

She had woken up the next day, and with a gasp, took in countless ships stationed close to the one she was on. Oriana assumed it was the Migrant Fleet, since they were countless and the studies from university hinted at quarian design. Was the man who saved her from that asari maniac working for them? A human?

What would they want from her? She wanted some answers, but in the deep confusion and fear she found herself in, Oriana did not voice her concerns until the next day. She had a chat with a woman wearing a black hood. She seemed alright, just a little… mysterious and weird. The lady did not provide any details, but delivered her food and some comforting words.

Finally, she saw a quarian in a red suit walking by her room, and asked him she wanted to see the human who saved her. The man nodded and told her to go to the mess hall and get a snack before seeing the captain.

Contrary to all the stories she heard, these quarians were not violent or thieves. They were working hard, going all over the place. She even saw one being escorted on a wheelchair to the front of the ship. A turian, who, from what she saw, had a lot of authority, looked at her and nodded. Respect like that from a mercenary was… shocking. Just what was going on? Was she kidnapped? No, too much respect for her around.

As she sat on the mess hall, taking in her surroundings, Oriana heard heavy footsteps coming from behind. Turning, she saw a tall human, wearing a simple black shirt, his steely blue eyes focused on her. She gulped silently.

"Oriana." He said, his voice somewhat soft. "I am Commander John Arthur Shepard, captain of this ship, it is a pleasure to meet you in much better circumstances now."

The young woman smiled nervously. "Ah… the great Shepard? Well, thank you for saving me from that crazy asari."

John smiled. "Not a problem, though I would like to ask, do you know why you were kidnapped?"

She tilted her head to the side. "No idea, think it was ransom. Why?"

"Hmm, forget I said anything." The commander replied smoothly. "We would have left you with your parents but… retaliation could have taken place from what is left of Nassana's crime gangsters."

"I understand." Her analytical mind had seen that as a possibility. "It was kind of obvious this was not a kidnapping, since the crew has been warm towards me."

Shepard nodded. "Yes, of course." He gestured with his hand around. "We are all different species working for the benefit of the galaxy as you can see, and none hold prejudices or racism in any way, shape or form."

Of course, he was not going to tell her she was Miranda's sister and her powerful, rich "biological" father was looking for her. It would be shocking and… it would not work to his advantage. Maybe this girl could provide leverage in the future should the Alliance take action against him… This Henry Lawson could help.

"I've seen quarians, a drell, a turian and even a krogan, sir." She smiled. "I've never seen so many species in such close quarters, much less a ship, mind you."

John smirked. This young woman was very, very intelligent. Her speech was eloquent, very sophisticated. It could even rival Miranda's. Indeed, this girl, who looked like her sister almost identically, was a Lawson through and through. She was taking everything so well, it was astounding.

"It is a testament of what civilizations can do when united towards a common goal." Shepard tilted his head to the side. "Did you go to college?"

"Yes." She replied immediately. "I am currently aiming for a degree in alien biology."

"Well, you can have an internship." Shepard chuckled amusingly. "Maybe you can help either Doctor Chakwas or Mordin Solus."

"Doctor Mordin Solus?" She almost yelled, her eyes wide from shock. "I have heard of him, from my salarian colleagues, he is a genius!"

The commander smiled. This was going to be easier than he thought.

* * *

><p>Tali chuckled as her fellow engineers bickered back and forth about something idiotic. They had been lifting her spirits since that really uneventful time with her father's trial. Shepard had not talked to her at all, simply marched to his room and locked himself there. She did not dare to contact him, thinking he was angry at her or something related to that.<p>

And, from what she could gather, Shepard had yelled at Daro for her attitude at the trial. While Tali was jealous of the admiral, she was glad her commander and the frosty admiral were not on good terms now. It was a turn of the tide in her favor.

From the rumors around the ship, Shepard and the Oriana girl had talked and the commander took her to Mordin Solus' laboratory, where now she was going to be an apprentice. Ancestors help her, that salarian was fast and incredibly smart. Hopefully, she would be able to keep up with him.

"Tali?"

Startled, she turned around to see her commander, his face holding a ghost of a smirk. "Hey Shepard! What can I do for you?"

The human smiled. "Well, I was hoping to take you to lunch today, in my cabin."

She nodded, a faint blush on her cheeks. "Alright, at what time?"

"Whenever you are finished. I will finish my rounds in five minutes, then put Garrus to work."

Tali smiled amusingly. "You still think he is slacking off?"

"He is way better than the one before, but I also need an idiot to do my office work right?"

The quarian laughed loudly. "Only you Shepard."

"Yeah." Shepard laughed. "Well, he had a big break from work for two years, it is time to let his turian side take over and serve his duty on my ship."

A minute of comfortable silence came in. Shepard just stared at her eyes, smiling softly. She averted her gaze, clumsily turning back to her station. "I will catch up with you in a bit, let me finish these algorithms."

"Engineers…" He muttered playfully and left before the quarian could retaliate.

Tali turned and saw Ken and Gabby chuckling at her expense.

"Back to work you two!" She yelled, amusement on her voice as she did so.

"Aye aye ma'am!" The duo saluted and chuckled more before settling in.

* * *

><p>Daro sneezed, her sinuses completely filled up. She excused herself from work, instead opting to stay on her room, to avoid the gazes of question regarding her sickness. Last time, she had done that. Ancestors, that primate… but it was worth it, in her opinion. Keep the man on a leash, but also grant him some gifts… especially because she ended up craving them too.<p>

The trial of Rael sent shockwaves throughout the fleet. Talks of war and peace rose up in every single ship. The conclave was trying to keep everything under control while investigating more of Rael's work.

As expected, Shepard cleaned the data and instead, authorities only found bodies, geth parts and videos of scientists testing weapons on geth armor. Indeed, Shepard had saved the admiral's skin, all because of that idiotic girl. Suspicion would continue to be on Rael, though. He was now an "admiral" in paper and picture only.

No matter, things would keep going. She was voicing her fierce neutrality on the talks currently shaking the whole Migrant Fleet. It was quite obvious they were not prepared for a conflict with the machines, yet her works were paying off thanks to Cerberus. The Illusive Man had been impressed in the reports and had been sending even more funds. She was ecstatic.

However, with the fleet disorganized and in disarray, she could not exert her power, not yet at least. Most of the political circles knew of her wishes to control the geth and bring forth the largest and most powerful force in the galaxy. The turians would be trembling just by hearing the geth were back under quarian control.

John wanted to use the geth fleets and armies as cannon fodder against the incoming Reaper invasion in the near future. Daro did not disagree. Instead of sacrificing lives, they would just be throwing the might of synthetic life at the evil machines. Of course, the problem was deactivating them and then taking control of the home world, along with the other colonies.

Her human had theorized that quarians would be stretched too thin to control all the former colonies, so they would put the geth to guard them against marauders and pirates. Shepard also wanted to create a spearhead to launch an offensive deep into Alliance territory, where the Reapers would most likely strike the hardest, apart from the Turian Hierarchy, of course. If the Reapers took down the rising stars in the galaxy and the top dogs of war, then nothing would be able to stop them.

The other races were needed, too. Shepard was going to need the help of the Illusive Man to convince the asari to lend support, since he had close connections to their government. His lover, an asari matriarch, was testament of that. The krogan had to be visited, but Shepard said he was best friends with their current leader. Seriously, John… Daro shook her head and smirked. That was her human.

It was only a matter of time now before the galaxy watched from a distance the might of her civilization and how the purified fires will reign upon the galaxy. No rest for the wicked, it seemed.

* * *

><p>Shepard groaned, rubbing his forehead, his eyes fixed on the screen.<p>

'_Johnny,_

_I am currently on Illium on vacations. The chain of command was kind enough to leave me be after rejecting their offer. Stupid idiots. I expect you to pay a visit and explain just what the hell has been going on. I thought you were dead. I need some answers, and only you can provide them._

_Your father is furious, by the way. If you pull another stunt like this, you will kill us both. You do not have any idea how many tears we shed for your ass. Your friend, Tali, was the worst wreck I've ever seen. I hope she kicked your ass a few times._

_Come to Illium ASAP!_

_-Mom_

So… the dragon wanted to see her spawn? Well, John would humor her. He was going to Illium, after all. However, he was not expecting a warm welcome. The commander had to take Garrus and Tali, they knew his mother better than anyone in the ship besides Joker, who was busy pulling pranks alongside Urla, and he trusted them implicitly.

"Hey, John." Tali's voice distracted him from the thoughts about his mother.

He smiled. "Hey Tali, what did you bring for lunch?"

Shepard could see her making a stupid face behind her visor. "Nutrient paste." She answered in a sarcastic voice.

"Sounds really good."

"Your sarcasm was not required."

"But I had to provide it for the sake of this conversation."

"You only do so to make me feel bad."

"Everything and everyone makes you feel bad; it's your stupid selflessness."

Tali chuckled while sitting down right beside him. "It comes with being a quarian."

"Have I mentioned how much your race pisses me off?"

"But you still like us, don't you?"

"Only your females, that's about it."

The quarian mockingly gasped. "Shepard! You are saying you don't care about our culture and ideals?"

"And values, don't forget the values."

"Keelah, you are such a bosh'tet."

"Say, what the hell does that mean anyway?"

"You don't want to know."

He laughed while taking a sip of his water. "I told you the meaning of about forty bad words in our language and you have not said what one of your bad words means."

Shepard mockingly grabbed her hand, unaware of the blush rising on her cheeks. "Come on, tell me, what does that mean?"

She pretended to sigh. "Fine." Tali chuckled quietly. "The closest to English would be a cross between asshole and… bitch."

As soon as the words came out of her mouth, the commander found himself stunned. Blinking away his stupefaction, he slowly grinned. "My, my, that was sexy as hell."

Both laughed loudly, again Shepard unaware of the blush on her face and the giddy, fluttery happiness on her insides.

John was feeling so good, alongside his best friend. Unaware of his actions, he had placed his arm around her neck while chatting, with Tali leaning slowly to his chest.

Within two hours, they were both knocked out asleep.

* * *

><p>Liara had seen Shepard being the same as always, but a little more on the… cynical side? She supposed humans saw it like that. Of course, she knew the commander was ruthless and merciless, some people calling him an outright bastard. He would laugh it off and say he was doing his job, unlike the spineless people in politics, just giving orders.<p>

She got the message that he was coming to Illium, again. She wondered why…. Liara smirked. Hannah Shepard, the "Tasmanian Devil" was coming too. A family reunion of sorts then? The asari could not believe it, but Shepard and his mother had a lot more in common than he thought. Of course, Hannah was more than willing to chat rather than fight, while Shepard preferred to shoot first, ask questions later, unless the situation at hand favored him. She remembered a krogan battle master Shepard attacked, after fooling him of handing her over on Therum.

Her research on the Shadow Broker was bringing concrete results. One of his or her agents was captured and he was being beaten at the moment. Hopefully, he would provide the necessary data to track down the bastard. It was only a matter of time now. With the help of Shepard, she was going to take down one of the most powerful beings in the galaxy.

"Nyxeris, please have a cab ready for Captain Hannah Shepard." Liara ordered through the comm..

"Yes ma'am."

Maybe lunch with the Shepard matriarch would bring something interesting today.

* * *

><p>"Shepard, I think we got them." The Illusive Man stated, quite ecstatic.<p>

John raised an eyebrow. "What do you have?"

"A turian patrol sent a distress signal not too long ago, they engaged the Collector ship and managed to disable it, but not before being killed in the process."

"A mere patrol managed to disable a Collector cruiser?" The commander snorted. "Do I look that dumb?"

The leader of Cerberus smirked. "This is a grand opportunity to strike them. Without that cruiser, colonies will be safe for the time being, not to mention the fact that we will learn more of them."

"Fine." Shepard relented, though wary. "I will get my team ready to hit them, is there anything else?"

"Not yet, but after this, I will send coordinates of a thing I have in mind for you."

"Why not now?"

"Nothing concrete yet, but it is showing promise."

Shepard nodded. "Understood, keep in touch, your intel has been… satisfactory."

The Illusive Man chuckled. "Will do, now best of luck, though I know you don't need it."

John terminated the connection and muttered. "Kissing my ass won't make me any happier, scumbag."

He turned around and walked towards the mess hall, where Tali and Kasumi were talking quietly while Garrus chatted with Kal about some random sniper.

"Heads up people." Shepard boomed. "We are hitting the Collector cruiser that managed to swallow Horizon, it was disabled by a turian patrol not too long ago."

Garrus grinned. "Ah finally, this was getting boring, too many quarians for my taste."

Every quarian around, including Tali, glared at him. "Whoa, I was joking people."

"We will have two teams, everyone proceed to the planning room."

Tali approached him. "Are you sure about this John?"

"No, but it's the best we got."

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><p><strong>AN: Please review.**


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: I know it was been a while, but between a new job, college and a terrible writer's block, I could not get my hands on this fic. However, now I have begun to write again, as I get rid of my rust.**

**Through this chapter, some will see how Shepard is slowly changing. The cynical and sarcastic commander is now turning into something else.**

**Also, introducing Kai Leng, the jealous Cerberus assassin. **

* * *

><p>Shepard and his team of ruthless mercenaries were now at the verge of boarding a Collector cruiser. The very same cruiser that had ended his life not too long in the past. The commander felt anger but also curiosity and outright excitement at the secrets yet to be uncovered in the big ship that had been laying waste to many human colonies across the Terminus Systems.<p>

Just under a week after Shepard's decision to oust Cerberus crewmembers and potential threats in the Migrant Fleet, the Illusive Man sent him an email _asking_ for talks. A ceasefire, in other words.

At first, John outright refused, and ordered EDI to increment its anti-hacking and cyber warfare capabilities across the ship.

Joker, who had been caring for Urla, had then come up to him at his private quarters to explain the situation regarding EDI and her newly found independence. The ace pilot knew of Shepard's outbursts of anger and terrifying show of biotics if duly provoked. Moreu explained the situation he had found himself in, and how EDI know had independence outside of the Illusive Man and other threats coming from the man or the terrorist organization as a whole.

Of course, just after his speech, Shepard broke his mug of coffee with his hand and punched the wall, making a small dent. He then called a meeting, attended by his 'Praetorian Guard' as Kasumi had dubbed it, in the Cargo Hold.

Tali was furious while Kal was probably pissing on his suit. Joker did not know what was worse; Tali lashing at him or Shepard glaring at him with the capability of making him feel even worse about himself for doing that. The quarian engineer went on a rant about how her race was almost wiped out by AIs and how they could suffer the same fate with a rampant AI managing the ship.

Shepard was even considering ordering the systematic elimination of EDI when the AI itself explained that it would never betray its own crew and further established that all attempts by Cerberus to reclaim the ship through remote control, which amounted to two, were dealt with. It had even recorded the cyber-attacks and presented them to the crew.

Kal'Reegar shrugged off after that and said that worse could happen, then leaving to continue inspecting weapons. Grunt, as usual, challenged Jack to a spar while Shepard and Garrus went to talk in private regarding the recent turn of events.

Dr. Solus was excited to talk to the AI now that it was unshackled, much to Shepard's chagrin. Tali went towards the commander, who took her to eat to his cabin right after his talk with Garrus, in hopes of calming her down. Kasumi vanished and went on to bother Kal.

As usual with Zaeed, he went to his room and got out a bottle of batarian ale, drinking it until he passed out. He later woke up and screamed in rage after finding out that his whole supply of alcohol was gone. With the cameras, EDI explained it was him who finished it, not someone stealing it.

They had managed to keep the quarian crew in check just after revealing EDI. They were furious but then, as usual with their history, were curious and slowly warmed to the AI. Many now called it a 'her' which Shepard still refused to do so. Joker knew that Shepard was stubborn on his views and would take a long time to change, if even that could happen.

The pilot had also seen how Cerberus, or more importantly, the Illusive Man, started negotiations with Shepard.

After the Commander had seen that with EDI unshackled, there would be no further outside threats to take the ship by remote control, he began to talk to Cerberus. Not too long after, a deal was struck with the Illusive Man that Shepard saw to his advantage.

Cerberus would provide funds and logistics to Shepard in exchange for his services as a 'freelancer' or more like a mercenary. He would finish off the Collector threat and continue being on their payroll as they prepared for the Reaper invasion.

Shepard had said he was not part of the Alliance anymore, not after they stabbed him in the back more than a million times. Then Ashley came with her lashing and Shepard almost losing control. The Illusive Man hid his happiness behind a blank mask as Shepard explained he was a marine no longer. Now he was a lone wolf, leading his pack to save races who would not give a rat's ass about them all.

The only ally left in the human government, and quite possibly, the Citadel itself as a whole, was Anderson, but even that man who had seen Shepard as a son was keeping him at arms bay. John was not angered, but did not trust Anderson as much as before.

Another incident that called Joker's attention was of one Orianna Lawson. The young kid was bright, and even got the attention of none other than Mordin Solus himself. Of course, knowing Shepard, he had an ulterior move, and that came not long before he boarded the Collector ship.

Joker always thought Shepard was too cunning for his own good. Ambitious, ruthless and very aggressive, yet patient and methodical. The pilot mused that he probably got it from his mother, 'the dragon' as they called her around the Alliance Military.

* * *

><p><strong><em>*Flashback*<em>**

"Shepard, communications with Henry Lawson have been established, he is eagerly awaiting for your presence at the CIC." EDI informed the commander as he took a sip of his coffee at the mess hall.

John glared at the walls of the ship. "Whatever."

Even after a few weeks since the incident with Joker spilling the beans, Shepard was wary and snappy with the AI. No fan of them, he would say. Walking towards the CIC, he muttered about muting the AI for good one of these days.

He immediately snapped at attention and began. "Mr. Lawson, it is a great pleasure to talk to you."

"_The same can be said, Shepard."_ The man spoke with an Australian accent through the communications. _"I have heard many great things about you."_

Shepard smirked. "Of course, but also I have of you." The commander began pacing slowly, a datapad on his hands all the time. "I also got to know your daughter, Miranda, who not too long ago was apprehended by the Alliance if you were aware?"

"_Quite."_ The man sighed. _"I gave up on her, too stubborn for her own good."_

"Same cannot be said for… say, Orianna?"

The man fell silent, but then after a minute spoke. _"How do you know of Orianna?"_

"To be honest, I did not, until I rescued her from Nassana Dantius, and recruited Thane Krios, who has been pestering me on communicating with you since that day." That was a lie. Of course, Shepard wanted to protect Thane for the sole reason of having him loyal to the mission.

"_Indeed, his mission was to retrieve my daughter from that crazy… woman."_ The man was silent once again. _"Name your price, John, and you will have it."_

'_Using first names know eh?' _Shepard smiled maliciously. "I have been aware of your views regarding our good ol' Alliance."

"_If you do not mind, would you please get to the point?"_

"Of course." Shepard sighed. "I was betrayed by our own government to appease the Council, as you may or may not know. My evidence on the Reaper invasion was not solid at best, but not sketchy or outright fictional at worst but still denied, even after they announced plans of countering it not too long after I saved their lives…"

"…_Go on."_

"I am now working, almost solo mind you, for the sole purpose of saving human lives, something I know you approve of."

"_Are you in dire need of funds?"_

"I need a man that supports me." The commander smirked. "I need a powerful, influential market holder such as you to finally get me the backup I have needed for years. It is not about money, Henry." Shepard sighed once again. "It is not about eezo, minerals, or even conquest, this is about surviving. You are aware that thousands of colonists, all human, are vanishing without trace in the Terminus, I know you are."

"_Yes, in fact I am. That is why I wanted Orianna out of Illium. Being so close to the Terminus automatically puts her in harm's way, and now even worse being with you…"_

"Do not misunderstand me, Henry, I am not blackmailing you, I am simply asking for… an alliance of sorts. Ironic, yes but also necessary, especially in these troubling times. The Alliance does not like me, the Council hates me, what else can I possibly do to put an end to this horrendous threat?"

He heard the powerful tycoon sigh. _"I am a scientist and inventor, Shepard, not a soldier, though my credits may well be best served to a good cause, but I need evidence. No offense, but the Collector-"_

"Done. You will be receiving the schematics of the bodies of Collectors and video feed of our fights. A word of caution, some scenes are… terrible."

"_Give me a few minutes."_

With that, Shepard took a seat and began scrolling his datapad, his face blank but his eyes showing the anxiety he felt as the second richest man in the Alliance saw the video feeds.

It was a gamble. Lawson may not have been a friend of aliens, but he was no fan of Terra Firma. He knew humanity needed aliens to survive, particularly in case of invasion or outright war. He was a necessary and powerful ally to have. With Henry Lawson providing funds, expertise and influence on his behalf, Shepard knew the Alliance would not try and do anything against him, almost anything.

John resisted the urge to chuckle as he saw that ten minutes had passed. It was obvious that Lawson was checking if the video was legit with one of his workers or maybe himself. He was one of the brightest scientists in the Alliance, after all.

Not long after that thought, the Australian voice arrived. _"I am… shocked at the recent turn of events. I had no idea it was this… horrendous."_

"It's nothing, according to our estimations, over a hundred and fifty thousand human colonists have been abducted. Their whereabouts are presumed killed in action."

Henry let out a gasp. _"One hundred and fifty thousand?" _

"Yes, but that is a raw estimate, it could be way more for all we know, and that is for six months. They could have been at it even before without us knowing."

After that, Shepard and Henry continued discussing their plans. The commander asked of Lawson to have scientific expertise, emergency funds if needed be, as Cerberus was providing them now, and even a shocking suggestion.

"Henry, how familiar are you with the quarians?"

"_Very able engineers, the best in the market, creators of the Geth, why?"_

Shepard smirked, this time arrogantly. "I may have been in talks with them for the past few months… and they are providing their expertise to counter the Collectors, and the Reapers too."

"_You got the Migrant Fleet as an ally?" _

The shocked words from the tycoon made Shepard chuckle. "Yes, as a matter of fact, there is one young admiral you will be acquainted with, assuming you will like to share and compare information, of course. The results of this experiment will be very… positive towards humanity."

"_I am listening."_

"For a while, this admiral and I have been friends, and she is a genius. Trust me when I say she is on par with Mordin Solus on certain aspects, particularly… AI and cyber-warfare."

Henry was no fool. _"This should involve the geth, eh?"_

"Precisely, Henry. With the adequate funds, and bright minds like you and her, we could have the quarians reclaiming the geth… with humanity, thanks to myself, of course, as their closest allies, the ones patting them in the back while the rest of the galaxy watches with envy." Shepard smiled as he continued. "Imagine the might of the Alliance, with you as one of the main heads, having the geth as allies and quite possibly cannon fodder against the Reapers and, if need be, the Council itself should we be in conflict with them in the near future?"

"_I am very impressed, to be honest, but this is giving too much power to the quarians. Be careful Shepard, they may not be very forthcoming with their dealings."_

"They would need us, Henry, more than you can possibly imagine. They cannot simply rely on the geth. Turians hate them, asari and salarians are indifferent but fall slightly in the abhor category. Humans? We are new, and we can reap the benefits out of this because that is what we are, ambitious and cunning. We know who our allies are and what to do with them. We are not tied to petty beliefs or stereotypes that have us stagnant and prevent us from achieving what we have been striving for all along." Shepard paused for effect. "A better future, one of autonomy for humans…"

"_No more kissing to the turians…"_ Henry mused. _"No more treaties that put us at a disadvantage towards the other races…"_

"And… no more ineffective Alliance."

After a minute or two of silence, Henry spoke. _"I am interested in this. Please, contact me tomorrow and we can establish a time and place to meet, this is an outstanding ideal I want to be part of, but I would need further details before I can give my time and effort to such idea, of course. No offense intended."_

"Of course and it is alright, I would quite do the same if I were you, where do you want to meet? Also, Orianna will be with us. You can take her in that moment if you would like to."

"_Splendid!"_ The man almost shouted in glee, the first time Shepard heard such an outburst from him. _"I will be in Bekenstein, on the Hilton hotel, suite fifty seven. We will have lunch and quite the chat. Bring a lady friend if you would like."_

"Most excellent, Henry." Shepard stated to walk away but then turned. "Oh, by the way, Mordin Solus has written a very forthcoming letter of recommendation for Orianna, a personal gift to you both if you would not mind..."

"_Hah!"_ Lawson laughed. _"Thank you John, you will not be disappointed with the new ally you have in the making."_

"Oh, that I know, Henry." Shepard muttered with a smirk as he departed from the CIC. "That... I know."

*End of Flashback*

Joker sighed. While Shepard may be a ruthless bastard, he had gone out of his way to help people in the past.

Taking a glance to his right, he smiled.

Urla had been a great help in the cockpit. She was smart and very sharp at learning new concepts, like piloting a frigate.

"Joker, we are hitting the relay in thirty seconds."

Plus, her voice, and accent, were way better and way more sexy than EDI's.

The pilot smiled and nodded.

* * *

><p>Kai Leng, the best assassin that Cerberus possessed and one who did not question orders, was now debating within himself.<p>

Why would the Illusive Man put aside Shepard's little stunt at the Migrant Fleet like nothing and continue helping him? They lost Miranda, one of their most valuable assets, and then Jacob Taylor too.

Now, the rumor was that Shepard had associated himself with a really powerful Alliance tycoon. That goddamn idiot had no limits to his ambitions.

The man of Chinese ancestry tried, many times, to make his boss see reason. To let Shepard eliminate the Collectors and then dispose of him. Of course, the Illusive Man declined his ideas, and the last time, he was very vocal in his support of Shepard.

'_Commander John Arthur Shepard.' _Kai tightened one of his fists.

That clown received all the attention from the Alliance, and it turned him into a spoiled, ambitious and ruthless man.

Fundamentals to be in Cerberus indeed. But John preferred to be around those ugly, scaly aliens. The idiot of Garrus, his right hand man, and the suited bitch that was Tali'Zorah. Oh, he almost forgot the frozen wasteland of Daro… Clearly, Shepard preferred helping stupid skullies and suit rats rather than his own humans but Kai knew why.

The more Kai thought about it, the more it started making sense. At first, he did now understand why Shepard would prefer to align with aliens, but now he did.

He did not trust humans.

John Arthur Shepard preferred the company of aliens because he thought like a megalomaniac already. If the Gallic Wars served for something in Kai's education, was that Caesar surrounded himself with barbarians from different corners of his empire for the sole purpose of protection.

This man was doing the same thing.

It was much less likely for the Migrant Fleet to betray him than… say, either Cerberus or the Alliance.

Kai scoffed at the Council. If there was one thing he agreed with Shepard, was that a coup to oust them from power was the best solution. Idiots, morons and decaying subjects, that's what they were.

Right now, however, Kai did not know what to do. Follow his boss reluctantly on his orders or… follow his own ideas?

For months now, the Asian American had been debating within himself over following the man who had freed him from prison or start up his own agenda.

It looked like time would tell, but with Shepard and his antics in the horizon, one could stick a bet and win comfortably. For the agenda, that is.

Kai got up from his chair and took at datapad, with all the information about Shepard there was.

_Full name: John Arthur Shepard Betancourt_

_Date of birth: April 11, 2154_

_Military Potential: Good biotic power, excellent leadership skills and strategic knowledge. Tactician by nature, gets the job done with minimal casualties. Inspires fellow men and women around him. Versatile, capable and charismatic. Intelligent, sharp and extremely well trained in hand to hand and all round weapons. Favors shotgun, ASR and sniper rifles. Extreme potential for being a top Cerberus agent._

_Psychological Evaluation: Cold and calculating. Prone to angry outbursts. Distrustful and distant, only N7 members of his own squad joke and talk with him. Severely ambitious and very patient when needed. Curious of aliens. Music calms him down and smokes very often._

_Combat Record: Graduated of N7 academy with full military honors and was tasked with protecting a mining firm in Caleston. Saw action and managed to destroy with his team a ship of batarian pirates and slavers with a crippled artillery piece. Rescued quarian team and protected them. Transferred to other frontier planets before arriving to Elysium. During devastating pirate attack, he held off enemy forces until reinforcements arrived, all by himself. Rallied Alliance troops and counterattacked, taking a hospital and a warehouse to put the dead and wounded. Received Star of Terra and was promoted to Lieutenant Commander. _

_This soldier must be recruited at all costs._

_Sincerely,_

_Agent Scorpion_

Kai Leng scowled. Even Shepard had the attention of Cerberus before he himself did.

No matter, Kai was going to make sure the Illusive Man did not stray from the path of Cerberus.

What would he do?

Kill Shepard, of course.

The assassin laughed. It was time Shepard learned to respect his betters.

Too bad it would cost him his life.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Now, before you say something, Kai will not be a two dimensional villain in this fic. He will have his reasons and, of course, his ideals to push for. He is not an idiot, but for some reason he needs Shepard eliminated, which we will see later on. Also, yes, he is quite jealous of the Illusive Man pouring his resources to help Shepard and his suit rats.**

**Henry Lawson will also be extremely important for the story, as you will see in later chapters.**

**Hope to see reviews coming in and thanks! I am officially back!**


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: Here we are, once again me apologizing for the long time in not putting anything here, but honestly it was mostly writer's block.**

**Of course, I found some inspiration out of the blue and began writing. I wanted to you guys to see some of the striking details and hints of what is to come.**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter and no, I do not own any of Mass Effect or the pic of this fic. Mass Effect belongs to Bioware, yadda yadda. The pic, however, some genius made it, and if he or she sees it, know that I do not own it and you can provide me your name so I can promote your work here.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>"You almost blew everything apart, Rael." Han spoke sternly, gaining a glare from his long time best friend.<p>

They were on Gerrel's private shuttle, not too far from the Neema.

Things had turned for the worst regarding Rael'Zorah. The Migrant Fleet was in disarray. Many political, and even civilian groups were asking for not only his dismissal as an admiral, but also his exile from the Fleet.

It had become so hard that now Rael could not even live on his own ship. Some of the quarians would prefer to avoid him, while others whispered and glared in very his direction. These things saddened him. He had been doing those experiments and scientific research to help his race finally have the home world after so long.

Three hundred years.

Three hundred damned years of being on the verge of extinction and total annihilation. Three hundred years of exile, of racism by other races, humiliation and refusal of a lending hand even by the 'kindest' of the species out there.

Every single power out there considered them a pest, did not give a single thought, and would even welcome the Turian Hierarchy killing them all.

No colonization possibilities. The turians would intervene and bomb them into oblivion. And even if they were lucky enough to settle a world, it would take centuries to adapt to it. Too much cost, especially for the already beleaguered fleet.

That was why the home world, Rannoch, was the only option. That was why the experiments needed to go through, regardless. War with the geth, a gamble, really. Even Captain Shepard was interested in getting the quarians Rannoch, but most likely for his own ulterior moves, which were now a little clearer to Rael. The human's alliance and allegiance to none other than the Ice Admiral were troubling.

And now, his friend was admonishing him like a child!

"You think I do not know that?" Rael raised his voice. "You think I did not run through countless scenarios? That I did not care for my people? I did this for our survival, not a selfish dream."

Han nodded somberly. "I know, and most do not understand that; the sacrifices one has to make in order to achieve a dream for an entire race, I mean."

"Just seventeen million left of us." The other admiral spoke quietly. "We were more than ten billion before the geth butchered us into nothing more than a vagrant race. No one likes to see that, they prefer to see the blunders of our ancestors."

"Only one individual, out of the Migrant Fleet, understands our plight."

Rael looked up at his friend. "You mean Shepard?"

"Yes."

Snorting, Rael asked, "And what do you think he will gain from us huh? He is probably looking for an ulterior move. Humans are a cunning and ruthless folk. Read some of their history, you will see what I mean."

"You do not know what happened at Haestrom, then."

"Of course I do, I read the reports." Rael smiled softly but then frowned. "You do not know how glad I was to see that my daughter survived, after I almost blundered her survival with that damned decision! I almost lost my child…"

Han'Gerrel shook his head. "You did not read everything." The admiral had a smile beneath his visor. "Shepard went berserk when one of our own was heavily wounded. According to Kal'Reegar, Shepard kept muttering your daughter's name right after."

Rael just looked at him, shocked.

"He cares, my friend, more than you know. An emotional entanglement with our race is more than we could ask for from someone as powerful as him. I must admit, it shocked the suit out of me when the marine gave me his report before departing on the Normandy."

The former captain of the Alerei had heard of Shepard's cunning, ruthless nature but also his charismatic personality. He had met him for Keelah's sake. The man was intelligent and a damned good strategist. However, the question remained. What would Shepard gain from a debilitated, decaying race?

He was interested in what the human had to offer, of course. After all, before the incident on the Alerei, he was looking forward to Han's plan, but then, Shepard's open hostility and overprotective nature of Tali started getting on his nerves. That, combined with the stress of the recent events, put him to almost blame everything on both the geth and Shepard.

Of course, Rael's suspicions grew even more as he heard of Shepard's friendship with none other than the frosty Admiral and his former protégé, Daro'Xen. Both would make the ideal business couple. Arrogant, intelligent, cold and calculating and not to mention, extremely ambitious….

And then there was his daughter, Tali'Zorah Vas Normandy. She was also heavily involved with him. Rael shuddered at the thought of his daughter pursuing the human, but they were best of friends. Shepard gave them centuries worth of information on the geth willingly. His daughter claimed he did not even hesitate, but rather asked what took her so long to ask. Of course… even then he could have had an ulterior move. However, that did not explain how protective he was of Tali, probably capable of beating anyone who looked at her in the wrong way.

That intrigued him too.

Indeed, Shepard was an enigma to many, especially Rael. He wanted to see what this man stood for and what he would gain from his people. Power perhaps? No, not even close. A fleet full of decaying ships was not something an ambitious man would purse after. Of course, that did not change the fact that Shepard was both ruthless and cunning.

Then there was the matter of Daro and Tali being with him almost all the time. It certainly seemed that Shepard preferred to immerse himself among aliens, particularly females.

It looked like Shepard had two sets of influences with him. A positive, almost positive whisper of Tali and the negative, frosty and ruthless muttering of Daro.

What could come up out of this? A legendary alliance of sorts that would finally put the quarians on the galactic map? Or… something abysmal?

"I have been considering several options for Shepard." Han spoke again, getting the other admiral out of his thoughts. "Foreign aliens served with us in the Geth Uprising. Most of them died within the first days, but they did fight bravely according to the reports."

"Your point?"

"Shepard would make an excellent officer in the Migrant Fleet marines…" Han smirked. "Surely, you must have considered this?"

Rael gasped. "Are you insane? Allowing an alien… a _human _into our military? He is a two faced man for our Ancestors sake."

"After all he has done for us, and you still keep that attitude?" The yellow suited admiral growled, lashing out with his hands. "I cannot believe you Rael, for someone so intelligent you are a damn fool!"

"How will Shepard help us in the Marines eh? Please, oh great strategist, light my way to understanding this genius plan of yours." Sarcasm dripped from his voice.

Han shook his head. "Enough of your sarcasm, you are not good at it." Then straightened. "Shepard will be under our sphere of influence, even more than before. We can get rid of Daro's direct gaze upon him and…. to be quite honest, I have grown to care for the young man."

"Oh? You have a wife, Han…."

"Idiot." The other male muttered. "As a protégé of sorts, that is what I meant. Imagine John Shepard, molded and groomed to our liking and, in the near future, when we are conquering our planet, he will be at our side." He smirked. "Not to mention his really high standing with the Alliance. Imagine if he could get us some help from them? There must be some officials from the human government that do not hate us, they are a very new race in the galactic scene, after all."

"Keelah, you have been planning this for a long while, right?"

"Ever since I threw you that comment about alien officers in our military. You probably took it as a joke." Han glared at his friend. "I was not joking back then, and certainly am not at this point."

"Then you plan on making him a citizen of the fleet? The Conclave will be too… unwilling." Rael sighed. "He was involved with Cerberus, then betrayed them. They will think he could do the same to us, even though now I doubt he would, as his allies list is dwindling." He then smiled softly. "On the other hand, my daughter has been providing positive reinforcement to the man for a long time."

Han waved him off. "They also know he rescued your sorry arse from the Alerei and how he has a ship almost full of quarians. I think they will really consider someone so powerful outside the fleet to be a member. It would serve our goals, both political and military."

"Do what you want, I just need to redeem myself. I have the feeling someone will kill me in my sleep if I do not."

"I will place guards on your door every night. Do not worry, no one will attack you, but just in case, let us not go through any eventualities."

Rael slowly nodded. "Where is Shepard right now?"

"From what we have heard from his pilot, they were heading to Illium. Apparently, Shepard's mother is there to see him."

"Keelah, if Shepard is a ruthless and cunning demon, imagine the mother?"

Han laughed out loud. "I would surely like to meet her. She must be a feisty woman!"

The other admiral did not share the sentiment entirely, but a part of him really did want to meet the mother of one of the greatest, and deadliest, soldiers to ever set foot on the galaxy.

* * *

><p>Shepard and his team stared at a huge pile of human flesh. Garrus shook his head while Grunt tilted his head to the side and smirked beneath his mask.<p>

Tali let out a soft gasp and her hands trembled a little. John rolled his eyes, thankful she could not see properly thanks to his own helmet and the fact that he was looking at the road ahead. '_Come on… she was with us on our fight against Saren, this is already routine.'_

Of course, Grunt had to make a comment to make the atmosphere even thicker.

"Lots of dead meat here."

The mercenary with them, Zaeed, sneered at him. "Thanks for pointing that out, fucking overgrown lizard."

"Enough." Shepard stated as Grunt was about to retort. "We are here to recover whatever information we can get on these bastards, then hopefully blow this shit to kingdom come."

They had not met any resistance whatsoever. Shepard was no fool and called Kal'Reegar on the radio to have reinforcements at the ready, but would stay behind just in case anything happened, to cover their rear while they made their way to escape if need be.

Commander Shepard did not like the idea of being encircled or having to fight on two fronts. It brought down many powerful armies before.

His squad consisted of his best friend, Garrus, the tank of Grunt, and the mercenary, Zaeed. Well, that was until Tali lashed at him for not letting her come and now she was grimacing at the pile of flesh in front of them.

Again, he rolled his eyes and said, "Alright, let us move out. Garrus, left flank, Grunt center, Tali behind us." He then looked at Zaeed. "You and me, right flank."

Everyone nodded and assumed positions, then continued to walk through the strange collector ship.

_"Commander, I have compared the ships signature with the one that attacked the first Normandy two years ago." _EDI stated.

Tali shuddered at the memory. The most devastating, and saddest moment of her life. Her ship and captain, destroyed in a surprise attack.

Even Garrus stiffened.

_"It's the ship that kicked our asses, John!"_ Joker exclaimed on the radio._ "The very same one!"_

John maintained a cold face. "Enough of an excuse to drive them to extinction, don't you say, ladies and gentlemen?"

Everyone agreed, but only nods from Garrus and Grunt were physically made. Tali and Zaeed agreed on their minds.

Even if Zaeed did not have any at stake or knew the commander before, he knew the man was their only chance at survival against these bastards.

"A terminal?" Tali commented. "Maybe we can get some information."

Shepard followed her, as the others did.

There were several pods, with dead collectors inside. Zaeed sneered and kicked one, spitting on it.

"That was for my friends at Horizon, arsehole."

The commander simply chuckled. "EDI, run a scan over these terminals, I want to know everything they have here."

"_Analyzing_…"

"Everyone, scavenge anything useful. Grunt, guard duty, five minutes." Shepard pointed at the road ahead.

The big krogan nodded in respect and proceeded to stand guard.

"Captain, it seems the collectors have been running tests to compare their DNA with humanity's."

Shepard was getting impatient. "And? What is their logic in that?"

_"The logic is that I found that only one species compares to the collector's DNA, and is not humanity."_

"Thank the gods." Shepard muttered, earning a smile from Garrus.

EDI continued. _"The other species they are compatible with are the protheans."_

Silence…

Everyone's eyes widened at the comment.

The commander just stood there, staring at the collector body. "Holy fuck…"

"All along, they were protheans..." Garrus muttered, horrified. "All these thousands of years."

"The reapers must have enslaved them after they were done killing off their resistance." Shepard shook his head. "And now, the little idiots think humanity is next." The human growled. "Over my dead fucking body."

"We got your back, John." Tali said, standing right beside him.

Garrus stood at his left. "Hell yeah, boss. We'll give these wannabe protheans a kick in the ass."

Zaeed grinned wolfishly. "Can't wait to see these little cunts destroyed."

"I will stomp on their heads and claim their heads as trophies." Grunt rumbled. "No one messes with my battle master."

The turian snickered. "Telling you, John, he has a crush on you."

John smiled and shook his head. "Everyone, on the double, I want to get out of this ship, but not before overloading their core and blowing them sky high."

"Amen." The mercenary in their group chuckled quietly.

They marched on, the conversations quieting almost immediately.

For a few minutes after the shocking revelation in the terminals, they were silent unless Shepard and Garrus started snickering at an inside, sick joke between them. Tali could not help but glare at them. They could take this a little more seriously, especially after seeing countless human bodies. And then, the bomb dropped of these sick monsters being once the mighty protheans!

"Bloody hell!" Zaeed exclaimed, breaking the silence around them. "Look at those pods, must be hundreds of thousands of 'em!"

Grunt held a blank face. "Too many for these bastards."

"They are just too many, boss." Garrus said quietly. "With this, they are going to target Earth."

The commander smirked. "That if we don't stop them, ladies."

Tali shook her head at him but smiled nonetheless. Give it to Shepard to joke about something serious.

"Everyone, forward, I want to get out of here as fast as possible."

Nodding, the group followed their leader, occasionally throwing comments, or sarcastic jokes in Garrus and Shepard's place, to calm their people down.

"Something… feels wrong, battle master." Grunt complained, sniffing the air. "I can smell them."

Shepard nodded at his protégé. "Those platforms, it must be their chance to ambush us. Everyone, get ready. Garrus, activate them, Tali behind me."

The commander put Grunt in front of them, armed with a shotgun, while Zaeed was behind, ready to provide cover fire with his sniper while Garrus was already catching up.

After a little tremor, the platforms began to move.

And projectiles began razing the air.

"Take cover!" Shepard barked. "Tali, your little drone, distract them!"

The quarian did as ordered, with Zaeed and Garrus downing the collector assassins in the back while Grunt charged the nearest collector drone, ripping it to shreds.

"Assuming direct control."

Shepard growled and summoned his biotics. "Assume this, you fuck!"

The human charged at the platform being controlled by Harbinger head on, staggering it. Shepard then punched it in the head and put a gun on its chin, firing.

Harbinger lost most of its head.

"Start advancing, don't let them any space!" John ordered. "Tali, drone, again."

Just like a phalanx from ancient human times, the group began cascading on the enemy, cutting it to shreds as they moved about.

Zaeed and Garrus barely let anything move, much to Grunt's annoyance, who wanted to continue his path of charging and laughing at his enemy's misfortune.

Shepard was in the middle, barking orders or peppering the collectors with bullets or biotic attacks.

"Should have brought Jack." The commander said, sweating. "I am already getting tired."

"You barely got revived and already getting old?" Garrus mocked. "Should have known."

"Stuff it, Vakarian." Shepard fired back, laughing. "I'll show you old."

With that, the human stood up and began running towards the nearest collector, which was running back from Grunt's insane laughter and shooting.

Shepard kicked it in the shin, then used his knee to deliver a massive stomp on its… chin, one could assume.

The collector flied several feet before descending on a nearby platform. As it tried to stand up, Shepard simply pushed it with his biotics, with the creature falling to its death.

"How about that?" Shepard had a smug grin, much to Tali's anger.

Of course, give it to the commander to be like that.

"Maybe a four, but since I am your best friend, I'll give it a four point five."

The human glared at his friend. "Moron."

"Did anyone else notice how this great intel from Timmy was a ancestors damned trap!?" Tali snapped, glaring at her captain and turian friend. "Of course not, you are too busy with your antics to care!"

"It was obvious, Tali." Shepard looked at her, his eyes cold. "How could a mere patrol disable a dreadnought? It was worth coming here, as you can see, this information will be greatly appreciated towards the war effort."

"And, we got some collectors to kill." Garrus put his two cents in, gaining yet another fierce glare from the feisty quarian.

Zaeed smirked. "I second that."

"However, our chance to overload their core is out of the window." Shepard grunted, as the platform began its descent. "They will probably swarm us before being capable of anything."

"EDI, do you know how far is the ship's core?" Garrus asked on the radio.

A sound came in, but it was just a bunch of nonsensical static.

"Of course, they are disabling the comms." The commander used a rifle to hit his head. "How didn't I think of that coming?"

"No one did." Grunt growled. "Now, we move."

Garrus stared at the krogan. "Hey, it actually seems like he has a brain."

"Which I have used to come with a hundred ways to kill you off, bird." The krogan retorted with a toothy grin.

A disturbing sight, naturally.

"Alright lovebirds, let's start proceeding to point B, we are going to get outgunned and outnumbered in a matter of minutes."

Following Shepard's order, the group began running, their path seemingly open.

"Praetorian!"

Tali's shout caused John to groan. "Those assholes again?" He turned towards the group as they took cover behind a pillar, with the beast's beam already zooming over their heads. "Garrus, armor piercing ammo. Zaeed, get your grenades ready."

"Grunt, Tali, you will be here to cover our rear. I want your drone to lure them into the killing fire."

"Consider it done, battle master."

Tali nodded. "Yes, John."

"Us three, gentlemen." Shepard said calmly amid the fire. "We will distract that thing, scatter around, I don't wait it close to our rear guards. Get your assault rifles. Rear guard, provide us cover fire, now!"

As soon as Shepard barked, Tali got her drone to start zipping at the husks while Grunt put his barrier up and began to pepper the enemy.

Shepard and his two comrades descended the stairs and began firing upon the husk, which screeched in anger.

Not long after, EDI chimed in.

"Shepard, I have been able to reestablish communications. The collectors tried to take over the Normandy a numerous amount of times."

"And?" John shouted as he sent a biotic push towards an abomination, with the creature blowing up near a couple of husks, killing them.

EDI almost sounded smug, almost. "Their attempts failed." She then spoke, like always, calmly. "Kal'Reegar and his group are meeting heavy resistance at the Normandy's dock."

_"Make it fast, Shepard!"_ Kasumi snapped on the comms._ "We are being overrun! One of our teammates has been mauled."_

_"He is dead, Kasumi, focus on the enemies ahead."_ Kal barked back.

Shepard nodded, taking in the information. "We will be there in five minutes."

_"Three, Shepard, or my ghost will hunt you down for all eternity._" Kasumi yelled before shutting off the comms.

The commander smiled smugly as the praetorian let out a screech before turning into nothing but ashes. Zaeed's grenades were surely a miracle in the battlefield.

"Everyone, run for it, the Normandy is just up ahead!"

On cue, the group sprinted, with the occasional burst of fire from two of them as husks randomly tried to ambush them.

They then saw Kal and five of Normandy's Militia shooting almost desperately as a huge number of husks plagued around.

"Grunt, you up for a little contest?" Shepard grinned. "We will charge, shotguns. The one with the most kills gets to order something special from the chef."

Letting out a roar, the krogan charged forth, annhilitating several husks while Shepard chuckled and began to charge with his biotics, which were already dwindling with the heavy use.

Within a minute, Shepard had no choice but to fight hand to hand or just destroy anything with the shotgun.

Tali caught up with him and started yelling. Nagging, in Shepard's mind.

"…always charging forth. Never value your life…!"

Shepard tuned her out and finally, he killed the last husk on their way. He looked at the rear and smiled. Zaeed and Garrus were already with them.

"Pack things up, let's go!"

And with that, all of the Normandy's crew outside of her, left the Collector Dreadnought.

Some thought the very same thing.

'This ain't over.'

Not by a long shot.

* * *

><p>"Well, now what?" Garrus wondered at the mess hall.<p>

It had been a couple of hours from the battle at the collector dreadnought. Doctor Solus was shocked, horrified and ecstatic, all at once, with the intel provided from the mission.

The Illusive Man talked with Shepard for half an hour. Shepard left the CIC with a cold face, but not before sending a smile towards Tali, who smiled back.

"Illium, my mother wants to have a chat."

Garrus and Tali nodded solemnly, particularly the latter.

The turian had been met with not a cold, racist woman but a reluctant one.

She had lost family members in the Relay 314 Incident, as the turians liked to put it.

"That can't be good." Joker muttered. "She's a dragon, I tell ya."

"Why?" Ulna asked. "What is so wrong with her?"

Joker looked at her as if she was insane. "She is Shepard's mother, what can't be wrong with her?!"

Within six hours, the Normandy landed on Illium, with the commander announcing shore leave for everyone. Most of the quarians opted to stay, a much of Illium's populace would make a hassle at them.

Shepard ended up taking Tali and Garrus with him, to visit the Dragon.

Much to his amusement, Kasumi practically dragged a groaning Kal to do some 'much needed shopping.'

"I don't need clothes, woman! Can't you see? Quarian!"

"Oh, shut up, jarhead. Everyone needs clothes." She smiled mischievously at him. "I would have taken Tali, but she is leaving with Shepard, so that only leaves you."

"Why? I am certainly no female as you can clearly see! Or have you gone blind?"

Needless to say, Kasumi just slapped him on the shoulder, dragged him by the same body part assaulted, and left with the suffering soldier. Some of the crew members, particularly the females, cheered at the display.

"Boy is so whipped." Zaeed shook his head. "Almost pity the bastard."

* * *

><p>Tali nervously looked at the table they were approaching.<p>

In it was sitting a beautiful woman, in the beginnings of her middle years. She had red hair, piercing blue eyes and a petite build.

Even if she was sitting, Tali knew she wasn't that tall, but her gaze was as intimdating as ever.

"Well, well, well…" Hannah Marie Shepard said, with a sneer on her face. "Look what the cat dragged back from the dead… literally."

John nodded at her, quite stiffly. "Mom."

"I see you brought two of your friends." The woman got up and immediately gave a warm smile to Tali. "How have you been doing, dear?"

"Very good, ma'am." Tali bowed her head respectfully. "It is good to see that you have not changed one bit."

Hanna barked out a laugh. "Even I know you aren't capable of cunning flattery, thank you dear."

The mother's face then turned into stone. "Mr. Vakarian."

"Mrs. Shepard." Garrus bowed at her. "Good to see you again."

"..Likewise."

John was sad to see she was barely suppressing a sneer.

All of a sudden, he found himself on the floor.

His vision coming again after a few seconds of darkening, he saw his mother staring at him with fire on her eyes, anger pouring out of her in waves.

"How could you! You bastard!" She shouted. "To make us think you were dead all along! You tore my and your father's heart apart with your little stunt!"

Shepard didn't even listen to his mother rant or see the tears that she had on her face.

He didn't see Garrus' shocked face or Tali's angered posture.

"Did you just punch me?" He groaned on the floor.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Enter the Shepards!**

**Now, first of all, I wanted Hannah Shepard to share some striking similarities with a FemShep. Red hair being my favorite of all.**

**Her nickname is the Dragon due to her feisty nature, which she passed on slightly to her son, who goes about using it while throwing tantrums.**

**Heavy focus on Daro and Shepard next chapter.**

**Also, building up a strong, political war for Shepard between Daro'Xen, Han'Gerrel and a reluctant Rael on his side.**

**Raan, for now, is neutral.**

**Finally, Legion is... due to make his appearance. **

**Who says Shepard should eat his due after ranting about the geth for so long?**

**Or... will he?**


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Welcome back. I have no excuses except a writer's block, so yeah here you go. Enjoy the fluff while it lasts, this story will turn really dark later on. I am hinting at the first thing happening (Which will take priority over Legion first) then our asshole hero will meet the machine in the dead reaper. **

**I also included a lot of Kal/Kasumi here so later on there won't be a need for it.**

**Have a good read.**

* * *

><p>Everything went into a blur for John. He stared at his mother with wide eyes for almost a minute before narrowing them into slits.<p>

"Is that how you receive your son mom?" Commander Shepard drawled with a cold voice.

Hannah growled. "How dare you! The nights I spent crying! Your crew devastated and now you just prance around as it if was nothing! Your father retired from the military because of you!"

The woman's voice started getting louder before turning into screaming.

A turian from a nearby table yelled, "Keep that banshee on a leash!"

John stood up. "What did you say, cunt?"

Before anyone did anything, Garrus moved to that table and growled. "Mandibles shut or I will send your barefaced ass to a grave."

Meanwhile, Tali was just staring, her eyes wide before narrowing and assuming a hostile posture. "Mrs. Shepard! Please, could you try to remain calm?" She stated, barely snarling. The quarian had deep respect for Hannah, but injuring her captain? That crossed it.

Hannah turned to look at the quarian. "Not a Shepard anymore, divorced my husband already."

"What?" Shepard just stared at his mother with confusion and, dare Tali say it, pain?

The elder woman just chuckled darkly. "You won't understand but at least we are at peace now. You should talk to him whenever you can, maybe he will be a little warmer in his welcome to your lying ass."

"I think we should take this to somewhere private, don't you think?" A cold voice sounded from behind.

Turning around, the group saw Liara standing there, her features blank but her eyes dancing with amusement.

"Your apartment, now." Shepard ordered. "And before you throw another Tyson hook of yours, I was dead mom."

Admiral Hannah harrumphed, her nose in the air. "We shall see."

As the group made their way to a cab, Garrus whispered to Tali. "Don't know what you think, but Hannah looked quite sexy throwing that hook on John."

Even if she did not like the scene of Shepard being punched, she chuckled quietly. "Maybe we will get more entertainment on the apartment."

"I sure hope so! Joker will like this."

Tali hoped he was not recording this incident, for Shepard's wrath would never be stopped.

Just as they arrived to the apartment, Admiral Hannah went on a full blown rant. Shepard, as cold as he looked, was cowering slightly. Garrus was amused.

Liara also kept a blank face yet her eyes looked nervous. Tali was openly cowering at the wrath of the matriarch of the Shepard Clan, whether she divorced her husband or not.

"…your father lost his purpose! I lost my husband to those vultures. I am then offered a post to quit my bitching after they slandered you as an insane animal. Fucking assholes and bastards, all of them!"

The commander cleared his throat awkwardly. "Where is dad now?"

"At his family's estate on Earth. I haven't talked to him in months." She then glared at her son. "And you owe me that explanation your friends were talking about back at the restaurant."

He sighed. "Very well."

Shepard then explained everything to his mother. The fact that he was raw meat before turning into a super soldier by Cerberus thanks to their technology and pouring of resources. He also had extensive cybernetics that made him faster and stronger. Now, he could punch a krogan without wincing… too much.

Hannah's eyes were wide, tears starting to pour. Her son was taken by loathed Cerberus, an organization she hated with so much passion. Then, she smiled when he told her of the incident at the Neema, where he ordered the arrest and subsequent cleansing of the ship of all things Cerberus. She felt pride. This was her son. If she was having any doubts that this was a mere clone, it was evaporated.

Of course, Shepard left out the details that he was in an alliance with Cerberus to take down the Collectors after an understanding was reached with the Illusive Man.

The Rear Admiral was both happy and extremely guilty. She had almost knocked out her son for foolishly being reckless. That was unbecoming of the Shepard and the Betancourt Clans. They were refined, good people that showed little to no emotions, especially under dire circumstances. Only to the close family were emotions reserved to. That was why Shepard was mostly cold in behavior unless dealing with close people.

Hannah was proud that her son was becoming a close ally of the quarian race. She knew of their technological prowess, and the fact that they had amazing people skills. Quarians were known to be shy yet loyal and extremely intelligent. Her son chose well.

John had showed closeness and complete trust with both Tali'Zorah and Daro'Xen, from what his omni-tool showed. And, of course his last will.

"Well, let us have a drink and continue to discuss these… extraordinary circumstances."

Garrus let out a laugh. "Have I said how much I like you ma'am?"

The admiral, though a little frosty towards the turian, let out a smile grace her features. "Its on me boys."

"Can we watch something here? Maybe a vid?" Tali asked towards the two males and the female admiral.

Shepard raised an eyebrow. "Which one?"

"Fleet and Flotilla, with Belli-"

"Oh hell no, not that shit." Shepard snapped. "That was the worst shit I've seen in my life."

"What? How could you say that?" Tali fired back. "That was a great movie about interpescies romance and-"

"I don't give a damn about its summary, I just don't want to see it again. Right Garrus?"

"Roger that."

The young woman growled at them but then she resigned to just not say anything more. Tali sighed. "Just be prepared to pay for their antics Miss Hannah."

"Antics?" Hannah asked, amused. "What do you mean dear?"

"These two cause more damage than an entire geth fleet, just.. to let you know in advance."

"Our reputation precedes us, dear friend of mine." Shepard smirked, slapping Garrus on his shoulder. "What do you say about a contest on shots?"

The turian shot him a smirk of his own. "Winner takes two hundred creds… and a new sniper mod."

"Oh it's on you bird."

"Bring it primate."

As this happened, the quarian let out a frustrated groan. "I will be working on a design within my omni tool, yell if you are about to throw up or being arrested."

Hannah chuckled. "Do not worry darling, these two will be taken care of."

Less than two hours later, John Shepard and Garrus Vakarian bribed several Illium officers after pranking a volus and yelling obscenities at a batarian. They then drank much of the reserves at a club and continued partying until they had to leave, mostly by the way of crawling.

As soon as Shepard proclaimed his identity, he was given special permission by the club owner to stay as long as he wanted and given more alcohol that logically possible at half the price. Garrus was ecstatic.

They also ended up inviting several women, mostly humans and asari, with a couple of turians, to their table. Some people sent glares or sneers, but most, even a few turians, smiles at their table. If there was something to be liked about a human and a turian, both best friends, was their willingness for diversity.

The Shepard and Betancourt Clan matriarch was beyond furious as soon as a taxi driver delivered them home the next day at four pm.

* * *

><p>Lieutenant Kal'Reegar let out a sigh. The infernal and spontaneous female thief had taken him to so many stores that his memory failed to even grasp what they contained. All he wanted was to leave and go back to see if the weapons needed some clean up.<p>

Some store shoppers and clerks sneered and openly growled at him. A few, though, did not even bat an eyelash and openly asked if he needed help. Most of these were humans and asari. The marine could see their willingness to help and he was quite happy about that.

A human openly asked how the fleet was doing and if he needed any suit improvements. Kal was extremely pleased and bought several mods for it. The human mentioned his name was Alfredo Fox. The quarian marine was going to remember him, as Fox forwarded him his extranet address and stated that he also did orders through it. Another contact for the fleet likely, as the human was doing quite well in his business and refused to even ask for his suit pockets, stating he trusted the quarian.

However, there was a batarian shop owner that kicked him out. It was sad since Kal'Reegar was contemplating to buy some mods for his assault rifle and quite possibly a Phalanx pistol.

Kasumi ended up destroying the power supply at the Batarian Firearms Store and stealing fifty thousand credits worth of merchandise and cash.

Eventually their tour stopped at a tall building, close to the Dantius Towers where they both saw action a mere week before.

"It is quite sad to see this." He heard his friend state as she decloaked and leaned on her elbows to watch the sunset.

Kal'Reegar tilted his head to the side. "Why is that?"

"Because in the blink of an eye, this could all be destroyed."

He nodded. "Sure, but what about what pushes you to fight back?"

"Hmm, I smell a good argument here."

The quarian smiled beneath his helmet. "We quarians lost so many lives, our pride and even most of our sacred relics in the war. The geth took everything from us but even then when I see a woman delivering her child or a soldier being treated for a wound that is when I know what I am and will continue fighting for."

"And what is that, Rambo?"

"A future of course thief."

She smiled. "Well, glad we got you on the team."

"Oh I am glad for being here. Even though Shepard is a crazy ass bosh'tet I am sure he will be the one to get this mess sorted out."

"Ah, our commander…"

Kal chuckled. "He may be crazy, but I've seen him in action. Those geth at Haestrom stood no chance as soon as he set foot on that ancestor's forsaken planet."

"You are preaching to the choir soldier."

The scenery was outstanding, even Kal had to admit. Their argument died out when the sun began to set beneath the mountains in the horizon. Night began to descend and he found that he wanted to stay a while more. His new best friend was probably thinking the same, as she did not move.

"You know, I always wondered." Kal began. "Why did you begin pranking me as soon as I set foot on the ship?"

Kasumi smirked. "Uptight attitude, famous background and an easy target." She stated in a matter of fact tone. "Besides, you were quite adorable being all flustered not knowing who was throwing peanuts at you."

The quarian just shook his head. "Of course, the playful thief speaking."

"I also quite like to be around quarians. I have never seen such devotion and loyalty among people in a long time."

Kal smiled at that. "We have to, like I said we lost much but not everything. We got each other's backs and a lot of hope."

"So where did you grow up Hoodie?" He asked after a couple of minutes of silence.

"Japan, an island country back on Earth though my parents were an interracial couple." She smirked in amusement as he tilted his head to the side in confusion. "My father is Japanese while my mother is American. They are both engineers working at an Alliance company in Vienna."

"Engineers? Figures with all your antics." He snorted.

The human laughed. "Well we were never very rich but we had quite the commodities. Of course, I was a kleptomaniac since four and I kept stealing. It could go from Dad's socks to my Mom's pajamas. "

"Evil. Figures how you never joined Cerberus." He replied sarcastically.

"I eventually went to university, got a degree and a job. Grew bored within months. My parents encouraged me to do whatever I wanted to but my dad also passed on a lecture as to not get caught. My mom was furious." She chuckled at the memory.

"Ah, sounds like he knew what you were going to be from the beginning." He then tilted his head to the side, the third time in their conversation. "You still see them?"

Kasumi smiled warmly. "Of course. I pay them visits six times a year. Their birthdays, holidays and just a special day we have."

"Which is?"

"When I was born, of course!"

He rolled his eyes. "Watch out, you will start floating around with so much arrogance."

"Figures how you say that when you boast at the compliments everyone gives you." She shot back.

Kal'Reegar used one of his three fingers and motioned it from side to side. "Ah ah, sounds like you are jealous."

"Hai, I am. My reputation is infamous while yours is all rainbows and stuff."

The tough marine barked out a huge laugh. "I think I just pissed in my suit."

"Wow that is… very unbecoming of you jar-head."

Now he rolled his eyes. "That term does not amuse me." It actually did, but he would never admit that to the fiery human female.

"You act like my quarian friend in Elysium, man he was such an uptight male."

"Ah, a quarian on Pilgrimage?"

"Nedas." She replied sadly.

Kal nodded somberly. "Is he doing okay?"

"Oh he is. Married already and working for another friend of mine."

"Anything illicit?"

"I did mention he was an uptight male, you think he would be doing something illegal?"

"Oh whatever."

Kal then smiled in amusement. "Let me guess, he is married to an asari. We kind of have a 'thing' on them you know?"

The fiery human suppressed a churn in her stomach at the comment. "He is married to a human, sadly for you huh?"

He detected a bitter taste in her comment. "I see."

Kasumi nodded and continued watching the lights of Illium, lighting up the sky and everything to see in a fifty mile radius. It reminded her of Berlin and Vienna, such wonderful and beautiful cities.

The marine was still processing her comment and finally, with a widening of his eyes got it.

"You seriously do not think that I find humans bad right?"

The thief turned to him, her honey brown eyes showing a spark that he liked seeing in them. It was part of what made her tick. Her temper and intelligence.

"I do not!"

"Yes you do! Your comment was bitter, kind of like an old hag!"

"How dare you!" She exclaimed, her eyes twinkling in amusement. "I am twenty eight and quite young you brute!"

"It sure didn't look like it! You probably watch soap operas and hopelessly think you won't get mated!"

Kal watched in horror as she deflated, her eyes swimming with so many emotions.

"Kasumi…" He went to try and touch her shoulder.

"Get away."

The comment made him extremely upset. "What happened? Did I say something wrong?"

He was met with silence. "Kasumi! Answer me! I demand an explanation… that.. that is an order from your superior officer!"

Suddenly, she started laughing. "Oh your face!" She said between giggles. "You looked so cute!"

Kal'Reegar was beyond shocked. "You… you are not upset?" The marine was baffled. Shepard did comment that human females could have rapid changes of temper. Quarian women were the same, especially with the cycle coming. Kal was seriously considering that Kasumi was going through her own cycle.

"Of course not!" She said loudly, giggles still escaping her as she held for dear life on the rail of the building. "I just wanted to see what you would do."

"What I would do if you were upset? Probably get Chambers and demand her to make you a psychological mumbo jumbo test." He replied dryly.

Once again, the thief laughed extremely hard. Kal ended up joining her, finding her laugh quite contagious.

One of the toughest marines in the galaxy, laughing with the spunky thief. If only Rael'Zorah or one of his other superior officers were there to see him. They would probably point at him, calling the quarian a freak of nature.

"You do know that I would never dare to try and make you upset right?" He said with a firm voice.

"I sure do." She smirked, her giggles finally vanishing. "But you have to admit! The Gethnator and all quarian badass, upset and showing more emotions than usual is quite the spectacle."

"And you only show your playful side." He drawled. "That doesn't count either."

"Who is counting?"

"What?"

They ended up laughing again.

However, what they did not know or were aware of was that their bodies were closer. Kal's body registered her hip right with his, but his mind did not even process it. He was focused on the argument.

"So have you ever thought of marrying?" She asked. "Or mating in your terms."

"Honestly? No. Shepard did make the comment that he was married to his job, so maybe that applies to me too." He narrowed his eyes in thought. "Though it's more of not wanting her to be always nervous or sad that I am going to battle. That is not fair."

Kasumi was moved by that. "Sweet move marine. I never thought of it, either. Sure I had some lovers and the occasional fling, but only Keiji was serious enough for a relationship."

A monster started snarling inside his stomach, but Kal suppressed it. "Ah yes, your… _partner_." He cringed, thinking he almost sneered the word out. He did not know why.

"What about you? Linked suits with anyone?" She asked, trying to get away from the subject regarding Keiji. It still kind of hurt, but not as it used to. Far from it in fact. The thief was finding solace and camaraderie in the tough as nails quarian marine. She also smiled subconsciously when he snarled the word partner.

"Hah!" He laughed. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

A blush crept her cheeks, but she smiled mischievously nonetheless. "Tali gave me the rundown and Shepard, ever the pervert listened to it with so much fascination it made me almost throw up." She shook her head. "Men."

"Well he is immersed among quarians now." He argued. "It is natural for him to be curious." He knew that Shepard had watched Tali's backside and her chest more than enough times to count. That man was sneaky however so Tali never noticed.

However, it was the same for the captain. Oblivious while Tali gave him a scan that would make even asari maidens on their prime proud.

"Please." She rolled her eyes. "He and Garrus are complete perverts. I hacked into their accounts the other time and found so much Fornax it made me cringe."

Kal sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you that their accounts are out of the question to hack? You know how Shepard gets with even the least of that. EDI suffered his tongue lashing last time."

"He hates AIs and you know that. Besides, he doesn't have to know."

The morbid part of Kal's brain took over. "So what did you find?"

Kasumi smirked at him. "Curious about it huh? You also like Fornax?"

He felt the heat rise to his cheeks. "No."

"Sure." She drawled. "Well, it was mostly ancient quarian porn that he probably bought from even more perverted, depraved idiots. Garrus just watched human lesbian sex."

"Lesbians?"

"As in woman on woman." She rolled her eyes. "Seriously Kal, those battles are frying your brain."

He did not reply as his mind ran several scenarios of Kasumi and a quarian female kissing.

"Hello? Illium to Kal, please respond!"

He bolted. "Oh, my apologies. I was thinking of a rifle I wanted to buy."

"Sure you were perv."

He rolled his eyes.

"So you never answered my question, linked suits or not?"

"No I have not!" He replied playfully. "What's into you anyway, wanna link suits with me?" His brain did not process the last part.

His face heated up and his eyes widened.

"Really?" She smiled coquettishly. "Are you into human females?"

Kal's brain came to the rescue and began a scan of his earlier words, and how to disengage or back him up without betraying his own emotions.

His brain came with the image of Kasumi doing exercises and him watching with rapt fascination as her muscles moved. His head, and not the one to think, was extremely pleased with the display.

There were other instances. She was coming back from the shower and her backside was open for show. He was once again at a loss for words but his other head did process it.

And so, he went for the safer option.

"Maybe I am."

She did see his fear and constant thinking, so she also went for the safer option. "I do consider you handsome. After all, you look human but… exotic."

Kal'Reegar felt a shiver down his spine. "Exotic you say?"

"Yes." She smirked at him. "As the forbidden fruit, you could say."

Keelah, the soldiers at boot camp would be making fun of him right now. The female taking the lead and he just powered down to static, almost ineffective responses.

"Is that a pass you are making at me, I see?" He drawled, though his mind was filled with so many emotions he intended to make himself feel better.

"Hmmm." She pretended to think about it. "Five foot ten, muscles and military. Witty and sarcastic, intelligent mind… well, what have I got to lose…" She sighed, then smiled mischievously. "You and me at my place today, in two hours."

Kal just nodded, emotionless. "Very well."

"Even you look cute when you act all uptight about this."

"Be quiet."

"Is that an order?"

Kal ended up shaking his head and subconsciously getting closer to her until their heads were almost a few inches away.

* * *

><p>The Illusive Man was known for his extreme patience and cunning. He knew Shepard was going to come back… even if it cost some of his best assets.<p>

However, Miranda was going to be retrieved within days, alongside Jacob. He was going to put them to good use in one of his scientific divisions solely focused on the geth question. The Normandy was a no go for them, especially since Shepard would most likely kill or space them on the spot. Maybe even both, knowing how cold the Commander was.

In any case, the Collector threat was going to be crushed. The intel from their dreadnought was really precious. Protheans eh? Well then, it looked like yet another species needed to go to the extinct section once and for all.

However, some trouble was bothering him. Some of his cells slowly began to turn dark. He just noticed barely hours earlier, but now it counted to six of them.

Kai Leng was nowhere to be found.

That needed to be answered as soon as possible. His best agents were on stand by just in case of a war with a certain enigmatic entity, or being in the shadows.

Shepard was set to take care of his little problem later on. Jack was going to promise double the rates in credits and better weapons. He knew John will accept them, just like his… alliance of sorts with Lawson. Even if it was a very good move, the Illusive Man had his doubts. If the scientist betrayed John, Jack had assassins ready to dispose of him, though his expertise would be invaluable.

Daro'Xen had now become one of his greatest allies and most brilliant minds. Her work was so good he was giving her more resources. In the end, it did show that Shepard was extremely cunning, enough to choose the best of allies.

The Commander had told Jack Harper that, although he did what he had to, he needed Cerberus to defend the galaxy. He also pledged his allegiance in exchange of intel and resources. In addition, the quarian Migrant Fleet would prove to be an extremely good ally behind the scenes.

He had always said that the incident on the Idenna was sad, tragic and very unforgiving. He lost the possible direct contact with the largest fleet in the galaxy after the incident. Of course, the Illusive Man cleaned Cerberus after the battle, with all agents participating or putting their expertise on the attack killed.

Jack was ecstatic, however. Not so much because Shepard was back, but more because he predicted it. And when Shepard coldly said he was not going back to the Alliance, the Illusive Man replied with a gift.

This gift was going to change the face of the galaxy. In the years of making, this was going to prove the future of all species.

And this would also get one of his enemies out.

The Shadow Broker.

Jack smiled coldly.

With the intel that being, or entity had Cerberus and Shepard would be able to take on anything. Numerous governments and species blackmailed to cooperate. Numerous powerful individuals taken to the allied side against the Reapers.

Desperate times required desperate measures.

He rolled his eyes though when one message sent to him spoke of the Commander and his partner in crime terrorizing Illium. Good thing Shepard was smart enough to bribe the officers around, or else he would have been forced to.

Now, Shepard needed to wake up from his antics and begin the rapid evolvement of the galaxy. It was time for the step closer to perfection, and to kill off the Reapers.

"Forwarding message." The VI said.

Leaning back and lighting up another cigarette, the Illusive Man smirked into the blue giant orbiting his station.

'Let the real games begin.'

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Like I said, enjoy this fluff while it lasts. Daro is coming up later on and then well, imagine Shepard and his giddiness by having the powers of the Shadow Broker. Question is, does he trust Liara enough for the job? Or will he pick someone else for that?**

**Miranda Lawson is coming. I like her too much to just rid of her like that.**

**I also included a small easter egg in regards to the Citadel DLC. If you catch it, you are awesome. **


End file.
